{"id":1600,"date":"2024-03-17T01:21:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-17T01:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/17\/eliminate-dirty-cash-but-also-protect-donor-privacy-says-poll-body-chief-india-news-times-of-india\/"},"modified":"2024-03-17T01:21:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-17T01:21:19","slug":"eliminate-dirty-cash-but-also-protect-donor-privacy-says-poll-body-chief-india-news-times-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/17\/eliminate-dirty-cash-but-also-protect-donor-privacy-says-poll-body-chief-india-news-times-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Eliminate dirty cash but also protect donor privacy\u2019, says poll body chief | India News – Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, while reiterating that Election Commission<\/a> is all for transparency, acknowledged the need for an institutional mechanism to control \u201cunaccounted\u201d money in donations that also protects donors\u2019 privacy and ensures they are not harassed for contributing to a certain political party.
Responding to a question on electoral bonds at the EC press conference here, Kumar said there is no scope in a democracy for hiding things. \u201cWe (at EC) are all for transparency. (But) the country now has to find solutions through an institutional mechanism where a donor\u2019s privacy is also considered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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In a landmark verdict on Feb 15, Supreme Court had scrapped Centre\u2019s electoral bond scheme that allowed corporate donors anonymity. It ordered EC to publish names of donors, the amount donated by them and their recipients. EC has since complied with the direction.
But Kumar on Saturday voiced his fear of unaccounted money making a comeback in political funding with the demise of bonds. \u201cThe unaccounted money which is used in elections… during elections, we are very particular to control it. But how we also control donations in the unaccounted form is something on which the entire nation should work…(such that) the donor\u2019s privacy is also protected and he is not harassed. How it (donation) is more and more white,\u201d he noted.
\u201cIn the digital age, there must be very less cash economy. One has to think and I am sure some better system will evolve where it becomes like that,\u201d Kumar added.
On a question regarding transparency in funding of parties, CEC said EC rules make it mandatory for all parties to declare the contributions they receive in their contribution reports, disclose how much they collected and spent in their annual audit accounts, and file their election expenses after every election. \u201cWe publish these on our website,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n