Budget 2017: Political Donations Capped at Rs 2,000

(Photo: Reuters)

Stressing the need for transparency in political funding, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday that the maximum amount of cash donation by an individual to a political party could be ₹2,000 – a sharp drop from the previous ₹20,000 limit.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2017-18, Jaitley said political parties can take donations from donors through cheque and digital payments. “Maximum amount of cash donation to any political party will be ₹2,000 from any person,” he said.

Donations of over Rs 2,000 will have to be made through digital means or cheques.

The government proposes to amend the RBI Act for issuing electoral bonds. He said donors can purchase the bonds through cheques and these will be redeemable in the registered account of a political party.

“This will bring greater reform in political funding while preventing future generation of black money,” Jaitley said.

Politicos React

While some political players welcomed the move, calling it a “game-changer”, other leaders termed it “meaningless”. “Any step to clean political funding will be supported by us,” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said.

Citizens React

Even Indian citizens were quick to react to this announcement, with some lauding this as a move towards defeating corruption and others saying that the number of anonymous donations will now double.

(With inputs IANS)