SBI receives Rs 6210 Cr for electoral bonds in last 2.5 years
In an RTI reply to Society for Safety of Public and Good Governance, the SBI said that it has received Rs 6210.39 crore for the bonds from March 1, 2018, to September 23, 2020. The bank has issued 12,452 electoral bonds.
By Sumit Jha Published on 7 Dec 2020 4:29 AM GMT
Hyderabad: The State Bank of India (SBI) has received over Rs 6210 crore for electoral bonds in the last two and a half years.
In an RTI reply to Society for Safety of Public and Good Governance, the SBI said that it has received Rs 6210.39 crore for the bonds from March 1, 2018, to September 23, 2020. The bank has issued 12,452 electoral bonds.
An electoral bond is like a promissory note purchased from SBI by the Indian Citizens and Company incorporated in the country. The citizen or company can then donate the bonds to any political party registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and has secured at least one percent of the votes polled in the most recent General elections or Assembly elections.
Any donors can purchase the electoral; bonds in the first 10 days at the beginning of every quarter which is the first 10 days of April, July, October, and January only from specified SBI bank branches.
The SBI has revealed that a total of 13 phases of the scheme have taken place till September 23, 2020.
The political parties, which receive electoral bonds, encash them through Election Commission of India verified account.
These bonds don't bear the name of the donor and the political party might not know the donor's identity. These bonds are valid for only 15 days.
The SBI has revealed that till September 23, 2020, a total of Rs 6190.14 crore has been redeemed which is 12,312 total number bonds.
The Electoral bonds were introduced in 2017 by then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Later in January 2018, the government notified that the SBI will start to sell electoral bonds from March 2018. While bringing the bonds in the political system, the government said that they have brought the bond for greater transparency.
Though the experts question this transparency. "Electoral bonds are not transparent at all, contrary to what then Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said. The process is completely opaque, it opens the flood gate unaccounted and dubious money into the political system," said Professor Jagdish S Chokkar, founder and Trustee, Association for Democratic Reforms.
