Not the right time to have state funding of polls in India: EC

The Election Commission of India (EC) today said the time was not ripe to go for state funding of elections in the country unless "radical reforms" like de-criminalisation of politics and enactment of strong financial transparency laws for candidates and political parties.
"Many political parties have demanded state funding. We do not have direct funding of parties. There are certain in-direct benefits like free electoral rolls, free air-time on state-owned media, free space for registered offices in state capital and tax exemptions (for parties).
"EC is of the view that state funding should not be considered unless some radical reforms are accompanied in areas such as de-criminalisation of politics in a democracy in parties, holistic electoral finance reforms, robust transparency and audit and strict legal regime for enforcement of anti-corruption laws," Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said while inaugurating a global conference on the influence of money in politics here.

If it (reforms) is not done, Zaidi said, the EC "suspects state funding will become one more additional tool, one more additional source of funds without reduction of use of illegal money in election campaign and this in a way can restrict the participation of right thinking citizens (in the polls process in the country)."
State funding of polls imply the government providing funds to parties and candidates to fight elections, replacing the existing system of ploughing in private or party funds for the job.
The CEC called upon the political parties and the government to promptly act on reforms pending in the clean financial electoral policy domain.

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The CEC said once the demanded legal enactments are made, it will further empower the poll body to ensure the most fair and free elections in the country.
"People are waiting eagerly and they demand democratic control over election finances through robust laws and transparency. Once we have the holistic legal reform, I can assure this house, as (also) people of this country, (they can) have great trust and confidence in EC.
"We are capable of enforcing these laws very strictly. We are capable of bringing about the most outstanding collaboration amongst enforcement agencies and we are capable of ensuring transparency and audit and, therefore, it is time that all political parties and all government in the region must demonstrate strong political will to carry forward the agenda on election finance reforms," he said.

He rued that the current penalty regime for violation of electoral laws exist only for candidates trying their luck at the hustings and not against the acts of political parties.
"Therefore, in summary, at present the penalty regime acts only against candidates. There is no penalty regime against political parties and trusts for non-compliance of whatever rudimentary laws exist and the guidelines of the EC," Zaidi said.
Interestingly, the CEC shared with the audience a proposal he received from a industry sector that a "democracy cess" should be levied upon the citizens so that elections in India can be made state funded.

"One industry association has demanded setting up of a state fund of Rs 5,000 crore. There is another industry which has proposed to levy cess ...They term it as democracy cess on people. We don't know how practical these ideas are?," he said without elaborating.
The CEC, during the conference titled--Use of Money in Politics and Effects on People Representation-- thanked the judiciary and various courts for bringing out landmark judgements over the years to strengthen the constitutional setup and regime of the EC which is tasked to conduct free an fair polls in the country.
He said while huge amounts of cash, liquor, gifts and illegal inducements have been seized by its teams during the polls process a lot more needs to be done to "minimise the abuse of money in polls".

We are thankful that the Law Commission has endorsed many of our electoral reforms proposals, he said.