How govt's bond proposals will make party funding less transparent

Instead of making funding more transparent, proposals will make it more opaque, feel experts

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his 2017-18 Budget speech, had promised steps to bring greater transparency and probity in electoral funding, the cornerstone being a proposal for electoral bonds.

However, certain proposals in his Finance Bill raise concern among experts that these bonds could institutionalise greater opacity and less of openness in political finances. Of relevance are amendments proposed through the Bill to the Representation of the People Act (RPA) and the Income Tax Act. These would allow political parties to keep confidential any funding through electoral bonds or for individuals or corporates to hide such donations to parties through