BJP earned Rs 553 crore income from unknown sources in 2017-18: ADR report
New Delhi, Jan 23 : More than 50 per cent of the funds national parties received during the financial year 2017-18 came from "unknown" sources that included donations through electoral bonds and voluntary contributions, according to election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The ADR Wednesday released the findings of an analysis of six national parties' IT returns and donation statements filed with the Election Commission.
According to it, the total income of BJP, Congress, CPI, BSP, TMC, and NCP in 2017-18 was Rs 1293.05 crore.
The income of these parties from "unknown" sources was Rs 689.44 crore, which is 53 per cent of their total income.
The BJP alone declared Rs 553.38 crore as its income from unknown sources, which is 80 per cent of the total income of the national parties from such sources.
Out of the Rs 689.44 crore, the share from electoral bonds was Rs 215 crore or 31 per cent, the report said.
The parties received Rs 354.22 crore or more than 51 per cent of the fund from unknown sources through voluntary contributions (below Rs 20,000), it said, adding the total income from other miscellaneous unknown sources was Rs 4.5 crore.
Thirty-six per cent of their income or Rs 467.13 crore from "known" donors, whose details were available from contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission.
They got Rs 136.48 crore from other known sources, such as from the sale of assets and publications, membership fees, bank interest, and party levy, the report said.
According to donation reports (containing details of donations above Rs 20,000), only Rs 16.80 lakh was given in cash to the national parties.
The CPI(M), which is also a national party, was not included in the analysis as its "schedules or annexures were unavailable for the financial year 2017-18".
At present, political parties are not required to declare the names of individuals and organisations giving less than Rs. 20,000 nor of those who donate via electoral bonds.
While the national parties were brought under the Right to Information Act by the CIC ruling in June 2013, they have still not complied with the decision.
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Mizoram class 12 results out, pass percentage at 87.67
Aizawl (PTI): Mizoram recorded a pass percentage of 87.67 in the class 12 board examinations on Wednesday, with boys scoring marginally higher than girls,
Across the Arts, Science, and Commerce streams, boys secured an 87.7 per cent success rate, while girls followed closely at 87.66 per cent, according to the results published by the Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE).
Of the 12,243 students who sat for the examinations held between February and March, 10,734 passed, 1,394 could not, and 115 qualified for compartmental examinations.
Academic performance was strongest in the Commerce stream, which saw a 90.51 per cent success rate among 759 candidates.
The Science stream followed with 89.24 per cent pass rate out of 2,770 students who appeared for the exam, while the Arts stream, with 87,14 students, recorded a pass percentage of 86.93.
In terms of institutional performance, the results revealed that deficit schools, which receive regular government grants, maintained their status as top performers with an average 93.80 per cent pass rate across all streams, followed by private schools at 91.55 per cent, while state-run schools recorded a success rate 83.13 per cent.
