Thursday, 15 February 2024

An Alternative to Electoral Bonds ?

Yesterday , Supreme Court declared the Electoral Bond scheme as

unconstitutional and violating citizen’s Right to Information

Since yesterday afternoon, politicians from opposition parties are voicing their

support for the SC verdict and criticizing the NDA government for launching this

scheme

Full report on this SC verdict can be read at :

Supreme Court declares electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional … Hindu … 15 Feb 2024

Highlight :

Ø Amendments to the law, which allowed companies to make unlimited financial contributions to political parties under the cover of absolute anonymity, declared ‘manifestly arbitrary’

Ø Electoral bond scheme is unconstitutional for violating the voter’s right to know

Ø EB scheme is invalid for anonymising political funding

Ø Information on political funding is essential for freedom to vote

Ø Voters must get all information to identify corruption and quid pro quo

Ø Electoral Bond scheme fails tests of proportionality by not being the least restrictive means

Ø EB scheme is not the only method for curbing black money

Ø The scheme provides selective anonymity for economically resourced contributors

Ø The Electoral Bond scheme violates principles of free and fair elections and political equality

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My Take :

Whereas it is understandable that political parties ( including those few which received hundreds of crore of money under this scheme ) are critical of the lack of transparency of this scheme , not one of them has come forward with any concrete / specific suggestion on what alternate scheme should replace the current scheme !

Over the past 7 years , I sent a few emails to our Cabinet Ministers / Election Commission / Supreme Court , in this matter

Then last November , Supreme Court asked the Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta :

“.. if the Centre could come up with another system which does not have flaws of the scheme as it puts premium on opacity “

We do not want to go back to a cash-only system. We are saying do it in a proportionate, tailor-made system which overcomes the serious deficiencies of this electoral bond system “

The bench highlighted five points that could be considered for an electoral scheme :

# Need to reduce cash element in the election process

# Need to encourage authorized banking channels

# Need to incentivize use of banking channels

# Need for transparency

# Need to prevent legitimization of kickbacks and quid pro quo

I urge NDA government to forward my following proposal to all political parties (

with copy to Supreme Court ) , asking them to submit their responses, suggesting

specific changes / modifications that they would like to be incorporated :

Ø Transparency in Political Funding ?................ 06 July 2017

Extract :

STRUCTURE

No direct donations ( even Rs 5 ) by anyone to any Political Party or to any

Political Leader ( even as birth-day gift ! )

Creation of a CENTRAL ELECTION FUND ( CEF ) , controlled / administered by the

Central Election Commission

Donations can only be given to CEF – and only by cheque / online etc , quoting

Aadhar number

Donations will get tax exemption as CSR

CEC will publish , on its web site , a continuous / dynamic / daily ACCOUNT of

amounts received ( with Aadhar No of each donor ) and amounts spent /

disbursed by CEC to Political Parties / Candidates ( with full details of each )

· From CEF , Election Commission will distribute FUNDS to political parties for

fighting elections / other expenses , on predetermined ‘ Occasions ‘

PROCESS

· Funding of Political Parties by CEC ( from CEF ) , can be made as per following two

alternatives :

[ A ] AFTER THE ELECTION ( CANDIDATE – based Reimbursements ) :

# After each Election ( Central / State / Municipal ) , ALL candidates contesting

the election ( including independent candidates ) , shall submit to CEC ,

a STATEMENT of EXPENSES incurred in fighting the election.

Even if a group of parties have come together to fight the election (

MahaGathBandhan ), each candidate will get linked to ONE party only

# Statement will be as per format decided by CEC , giving category-wise expense

details ( all payments listed in the statement , must be through legal / official

channels , such as Cheque / Electronic Bank Transfer / Mobile Wallets etc )

# There will be UPPER LIMITS of REIMBURSEMENT for each category of expense

and an overall limit

# The statement will also show the “ Sources of Funds “ ( with full details such as

OWN or borrowed from CLOSE RELATIVEs , with names )

# Actual amount to be reimbursed to each candidate , will be computed based on

a number of factors , main factor being the “ percentage of popular votes

polled “ by that candidate ( no reimbursement for those candidates who get

less than 5 % of popular vote )

# Actual re-imbursements made by CEC , shall not be counted as INCOME of that

candidate , for Income Tax purpose

[ B ] BEFORE THE ELECTION ( PARTY – wise ADVANCES ) :

# Before each election , All recognized Political Parties will get ADVANCES from

CEF , computed using a TRANSPARENT , mathematical formula , based on

following factors :

# FACTORS with POSITIVE WEIGHTAGE :

· In all the elections since independence ( Central + States + Municipal )

, percentage of popular votes polled by each party in those elections along with

the percentage of seats won by each party

· Number of years for which the party has been recognized by CEC

· Cumulative number of “ Days “ ( not months or years ) , each party was in

power ( Centre + States + Municipality ) since independence

· No ( or percentage ) of seats “ won “ in each election

# FACTORS with NEGATIVE WEIGHTAGE :

· No of MPs / MLAs having criminal cases pending against them

· No of times candidates / parties were “ warned “ by CEC ( for any reason )

· No of years for which Annual Return NOT filed with EC

· No of candidates / Legislators convicted by a Court

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With regards,

Hemen Parekh

www.HemenParekh.ai / 16 Feb 2024

National Election Fund an alternative: Ex-CEC Krishnamoorthy after SC verdict

Extract :

Krishnamoorthy also said that both the electoral bonds scheme and the previous method of funding elections promoted an “obnoxious nexus between corporates and political parties”

Welcoming the Supreme Court’s recent judgement on the electoral bonds scheme, former Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) TS Krishnamoorthy has suggested a “National Election Fund” as an alternative.

He suggested that the only way to “delink” this nexus was a National Election Fund with 100% tax exemption for both corporate and individual donors to facilitate the public funding of elections in which all parties would be allocated certain sums during polls.

Surya Ghar : Missing the Wood for the Trees ?

22^nd Jan :

PM Shri Modi announce Suryodaya Yojana under which 300 units / month of electricity will be made available to 10 Million “ Poor / Middle Class “ households

01 Feb :

This was also mentioned in the budget speech of Finance Minister ( Budget allocation of Rs 10,000 crore )

2^nd Feb :

MNRE minister Shri R K Singh announced :

“The government will bear the entire cost of installing solar rooftop systems as part of the Pradhanmantri Suryodaya Yojana, which will offer up to 300 kilowatts of power monthly to one crore low income households.

A low income household is being identified as one whose monthly electricity consumption is below or up to 300 kilowatts or unit.

Centre will bear the entire cost of installing rooftop solar (RTS) systems.

The householder does not have to go anywhere. The excess units that are generated will be used to pay for the loan. We calculate that the loan will be paid in 10 odd years

At present, the CPSEs are in the process of reaching out to such households and carrying out surveys for available rooftop space. “

13 Feb :

PM launches “ PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana “ . PM said :

Central government will guarantee NO FINANCIAL BURDEN on the people by providing significant subsidies directly to their bank accounts and offering highly concessional bank loans

PM Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter :

In order to further sustainable development and people’s wellbeing, we are launching the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. This project, with an investment of over Rs. 75,000 crores, aims to light up 1 crore households by providing up to 300 units of free electricity every month.

In order to popularise this scheme at the grassroots, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats shall be incentivised to promote rooftop solar systems in their jurisdictions. At the same time, the scheme will lead to more income, lesser power bills and employment generation for people.

Let’s boost solar power and sustainable progress. I urge all residential consumers, especially youngsters, to strengthen the PM - Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana by applying at- https://pmsuryaghar.gov.in

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So , what is missing ?

( A ) Cost to Consumer

Ø Even on the portal , there is no explicit mention of the amount of the subsidy.

Earlier it was stated that the total investment would be Rs 125,000 crore. Now it is estimated at Rs

75,000 crore. This leads me to believe that those 1 crore consumers will have to pay ( by taking out

loans , if required ) , Rs 50,000 crore

Divided by 1 crore installations , this works out to :

# 3 Kw RTS costing Rs 125,000

# Of this, consumer to pay Rs 50,000 , and REC / CPSU / SPVs to subsidize Rs 75,000 ( 60 % )

This is in complete contradiction of the announcement made by Shri R K Singh on 02 Feb , viz :

“ Centre will bear the entire cost of installing rooftop solar (RTS) systems.. The householder does

not have to go anywhere “

Dear Modi Saheb :

In my email of 28 Jan 2024 ( Suryodaya Yojana ), I had requested you to give 100 % subsidy to consumers ( totally FREE give-away ), with REC / CPSU / SPVs bearing the entire cost .

NO need to await completion of all those formalities and confirmation from Consumer / REC - SPV / DISCOM / Installer etc. for transfer of subsidy to consumer’s bank account

I urge you to consider this request

( B ) Merging of Suryodaya Scheme with National Clean Cooking Mission

In my aforementioned e-mail , I had pointed out :

# A family will use only 80 units for lighting-Fans- Fridge etc, leaving 280 units / month, un-utilized

# This surplus can easily suffice to power a 1.5 Kw Induction Electric Stoves , 20 lakh of which are currently

under distribution by EESL

# This utilization will, not only save 12 cylinders/year of subsidized LPG , it will generate enough Carbon

Credits ( to the credit of REC / CPSU / SPVs ) to recover entire investment of Rs 1.5 lakh*crore , within 3

years !

From 4^th year onwards, this amount will be PROFIT for these financiers !

# Cost of stove will get recovered in just 3 months !

( C ) Incentivizing DISCOMS

In the latest announcement , there is no mention of any compensation to DISCOMS for their loss of revenue

In absence of this , the scheme is bound to be resisted by DISCOMs . The “ feasibility approval “ from DISCOM will take months ( I just applied online on the portal yesterday and will keep you informed when I get that approval – or rejection )

I am afraid , without reimbursing DISCOMs for loss of revenue , this scheme will be a non-starter !

( D ) Insufficient Roof space

In my earlier blog ( Thanks, Shri Modiji … 03 Feb 2024 ), I had pointed out that most buildings in towns / cities, are multi-storied ( 5 – 25 stories ) with 20 – 100 flats

And their roof area is simply INSUFFICIENT to provide 3 Kw ( 300 sq ft ) RTS installations for all flats. Roof area is barely enough to provide RTS to 10 % - 20 % of the flats

Whether these flats are ownership ( with a Co-op Housing Society ) or rented ( from a landlord ), it will be impossible to decide ( by whom ? ) , who should get the RTS – and who will be deprived

To prove my point , I just checked up with a few friends and found following figures :

Family Location	Ave Units/Month	No of flats in Bldg	Terrace Area( Sq ft )	@300 sq ft ( 3Kw ),terrace area sufficient for no of flats

Andheri	450	24	1500	5

Vile Parle	500	20	1500	3

Powai	350	54	3000	10

Kandivali	350	16	2200	7

Chandivali	220	49	2000	7

Although, in case of some buildings, it may be STRUCTURALLY possible to extend the roof area by cantilevered TRUSSES on all 4 sides of the building, it will cause loss of natural daylight for flats on the top floor – and objected to . Even if agreed by all the residents , it will take months to get necessary permissions from the concerned authorities and some more months to carry out the changes

It is for this reason that in my earlier e-mail I had suggested :

Let REC / CPSE / SPV , put up large Solar Farms ( 1 GW each ) on Government lands, close to each town / city

Then feed that power to the DISCOM catering to that city ( free of cost )

And , in turn , DISCOM to supply that power ( may be adding a very small “ carrying charge “ ) to families living in multi-storied buildings .

And finally :

On the portal , in the REGISTRATION FORM , an applicant is asked to provide following data :

Select your State

Electric Distri. Co

Electric Consumer No

Mobile Number

E Mail Id

DISCOMs already have this data for each and every consumers ( look up any monthly Electricity Bill of any DISCOM )

Why ask this data from an applicant ?

In fact, why ask ANY ONE to “ apply “ in the first place ? To me, it seems totally UNNECESSARY

Every DISCOM has an elaborate DAABASE of its consumers . In matter of seconds , a search will produce a list of those consumers whose last 12 months average consumption was LESS THAN 300 UNITS

And since full address of each consumer is also available with the DISCOM , it can tabulate for each building :

Ø Which ( and how many ) consumers are ELIGIBLE for the scheme

Ø Which are NOT ELIGIBLE

All that DISCOM has to do is to send out appropriately worded E Mail ( Scheme / Purpose / Funding / Eligibility Criteria / Benefits / Obligations etc ) to the eligible consumers, requesting them to click :

# Yes , I am interested to avail of this scheme. Please send someone to my residence to conduct FEASIBILITY study

# No , I am not interested

If a consumer does not have an email id , then a printed letter can be sent through post, along with next monthly bill and the customer can be advised about the letter through SMS / Whatsapp ( I presume that all customers have mobile phones )

Dear Shri Narendrabhai ,

Only yesterday , while addressing the Global Summit , you spoke about leveraging technology to effect changes

Surya Ghar Yojana is a shining example of that proclamation

Implementing my suggestions will make this yojana , a BENCHMARK for GLOBAL SOUTH

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

www.HemenParekh.ai / 15 Feb 2024