NGO statement on party's income 'mischievous': CPI(M)

CPI(M) today dubbed as "mischievous" the statement of an NGO that the party's major share of income comes from unknown sources and said it has nothing to hide about the details of its income and list of donors.
"CPI(M) has been regularly submitting before the Election Commission (EC) and the Income Tax (IT) Department about the state of accounts including income and expenditure and a list of donors who donates above Rs 20,000, their addresses, PAN etc.
"As per law, political parties need not submit the addresses of contributors who contribute amounts below Rs 20,000 before the EC and IT department. The party has complied the provisions of law and disclosed the addresses of donors who donated above Rs 20,000," the party said in a statement here following comments by the NGO.

The NGO, Association of Democratic Reforms, in a report had alleged that the major share of the income of CPI(M) and some other parties is from 'unknown' sources and the parties have not disclosed the sources of their major share of income.
Terming the statement as "mischievous interpretation" the party said it had submitted its audited statement of accounts for 2011-12 and also for the previous years before the EC and IT department as per provisions of law.
As per CPI(M) constitution, each member of the party pays an amount as levy as prescribed by the Central Committee (CC) based on the income of each party member.

The income received as levy is Rs 41,63,37,169 (40.09 per cent of the total income of the party) and membership fee is Rs 20,91,262 (0.20 per cent). At present, CPI(M) has more than one million members, the statement said.
The party received Rs 52,49,03,619 (50.55 per cent of total income) as voluntary contributions from party members, sympathisers and general public. The donations are collected at ward, village, district and state levels by party units as well as CC.