A modest beginning

Budget provisions on political funding underwhelm

The government has tried to place transparency in political funding at centre stage by making it one of the key elements of its latest Budget. This is a creditable move since no government can claim to be serious about removing corruption and black money in India without first ensuring that the functioning of political parties and their leaders is completely above board. Such demands for transparency have become even more vigorous ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation on November 8 last year. In the ensuing months, the government put in place rules that required a common citizen to