Even
repeal of the explanation under Section 77 (1) of the RP
Act, 1951, which makes nonsense of expenditure ceilings
was not addressed by the committee. There is no provision
for party finances for normal political activity. Parties
are classified somewhat arbitrarily, though uniformly, as
State and national parties. All that parties need is to
preserve their status as recognized parties. Minimal requirements
are needed for a party to be recognized as State party (4%
vote or one out of 25 legislators in the House). A national
party is one recognised in four States. Obviously such uniform
funding of recognised party candidates irrespective of their
popular base will lead to unfair consequences. At the other
end, genuine independents and new parties will be denied
all opportunity of public funding irrespective of their
popular base.
There
are three central issues which need to be addressed in funding
reform. Legitimate private funding should be encouraged,
strict disclosure norms must be enforced, and any public
funding must be verifiable, non-discretionary and manifestly
fair. Such funding should encourage performance, and all
parties and candidates should be treated equally. There
should be an in-built incentive to raise contributions.
Public funding should be a finite amount and should not
facilitate political fragmentation. Party funding for normal
activity and election funding for the candidate should both
be addressed.
One
such public funding model would be to fund every candidate
at a fixed rate of, say Rs 10 per vote obtained, provided
(s)he gets over 10% of the valid vote polled. The actual
funding will depend on the uncovered gap between legal expenditure
limit and money raised by the candidate; and on the private
contributions raised by the candidate. It cannot exceed
the former (as expenditure ceiling will operate), and should
be equal to or one and a half times the latter (to encourage
the candidate to raise contributions). In case of party
candidates, 2/3 of the sum will go to the candidate, and
1/3 will go to the party. Once the scheme is in operation,
parties will get 50% of the money disbursed in the last
election as an advance for the succeeding election. Recognized
parties however will get the added benefit of free media
time in both public and private channels.
For
any funding reform to work effectively, there are several
preconditions. Private funding should be encouraged by tax
incentives subject to a ceiling. Ban on corporate contributions,
proposed by the Law Commission is impractical. It will only
drive political funding underground, whereas our objective
should be transparent and accountable funding. Corporates
should be allowed to fund parties, and not candidates, subject
to a ceiling of 5% of net profit or Rs 50 lakhs for national
parties and Rs 10 lakhs for State parties. But the crucial
element of reform is strict disclosure norms for both the
donor and recipient, with severe penalties including mandatory
imprisonment. Only when there is a real danger of the donor
going to jail for violation will disclosure be effective
in India. Election Commission should be in charge of determination
of violations, whereas criminal courts can impose jail terms.
Candidates and parties should suffer severe penalties, disqualification,
derecognition and mandatory imprisonment for disclosure
violations. These penalties may appear draconian, but truthful
disclosure is at the heart of any meaningful funding reform.
In addition, parties should be regulated by law, and voter
registration defects and polling fraud should be eliminated
by better procedures.
Once
these conditions are fulfilled, public funding will work.
There are an estimated 57 crore voters, and with 60% average
polling, about 34 crore votes will be polled. Once votes
polled and contributions raised become the basis of funding,
and expenditure ceilings are taken into account, the funding
requirement will be of the order of Rs 250 crore for Lok
Sabha and an equal amount for State Assemblies. Even this
can be raised by creating a public fund, contributions to
which can receive 150% tax benefit (for every Rs 100 contribution,
Rs 150 would be exempt). Corporates will be happy to take
advantage of tax concessions and contribute large amounts.
There
are elegant, practical, effective mechanisms to cleanse
our electoral system and political funding. What we need
is tenacity, will and concern for detail. Let us hope this
time parties will do the right thing and help themselves
while helping the country.
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