Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Good attempt made to stop corruption at highest level' that was published in Newsband

Good attempt made to stop corruption at highest level

Political corruption is the source of most forms of corruption. There is lack of transparency and accountability in the funding of political parties. The measures in the Union Budget to cleanse the process of making donations toward election expenses of parties should be appreciated.

But this is unlikely to stop the disguising of huge, off-the-books cash donations from corporate houses and vested interests. The proposal does not disrupt the flow of illicit political donations but only channels it differently. Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley was indeed intent on getting the political class to truly account for their donations.

In any case, the declared income is only a small part of their funding. The rest of the money doesn’t even come under the radar of the Election Commission or the Income Tax Department. The Budget makes it mandatory for political parties to file returns within a time limit, but there is absence of extreme penal provisions.

Anyway, It’s a bold step barring some shortcoming. Government cannot be at fault as they have to do it in gradual steps. It should slowly make all the contributions to political parties up to a limit as tax deductible. That will enable the contributors to disclose.

The main thing is that no other government had shown its interest in this direction whether it is baby step. So Bharatiya Janata Party should be lauded for taking such a step for the first time. So, be optimistic rather than pessimistic and let us wait for the next reform of the government.

This is the first step taken to curb corruption in political funding. The whole policy may not be completely free of shortcomings but it is welcome. Hindrances can be removed on our way. Anyway, the Finance Minister never claimed he was going to eradicate corruption in one stroke. But he has certainly taken some steps in that direction. They may have to be enhanced in the future. There is no need to delay requiring parties to file returns within a time frame. Penal provisions for non compliance can follow later.

But some people are of the opinion that all the politicians are the same. Whoever is in the government doesn't matter. They will make the rules so as to have loopholes in them. All of them try to show off that they are clean and honest but don't want to be transparent and honest. They are just making fool of us. They would prefer that the office of Election commission is provided with more power.

But one can’t deny the fact that the present government deserves credit for its political will to make a beginning to regulate political funding. As we move on, we can identify areas for further refinement. Indian political theatre is not dominated by just two parties like the U.S. for us to remove the anonymity of the donors. We have a record number of political parties that have created an extremely divided and politically violent society.

So we must support the first step. Important matters should be referred to expert committees or the judiciary. This fountain or the mother of corruption has been given a budgetary nod. It is high time corruption is killed in the embryonic stage. There must be an honest attempt at cleansing from top to bottom.