EC comes up with online portal for parties to file financial statements
New Delhi (PTI): The Election Commission on Monday came up with an online portal to allow registered political parties file their financial statements, including contribution reports and poll expenditure accounts, a move seen as an effort to bring in more transparency in disclosures made by political entities.
The move is part of the poll panel's "3C strategy" comprising clean up, crackdown and compliance to strengthen transparency and accountability in the political funding and expenditure on which it had been working for a year now under Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, sources said.
Political parties not intending to file the financial report through online mode will have to convey the reasons for not doing so in writing and may continue to file reports in hard copy format along with CDs or pen drive in the prescribed formats.
"The Commission will, in turn, publish all such reports online, along with a letter of justification sent by the party for not filing financial statements online," the EC said in a statement.
In a letter to the political parties, the Commission said the step has been taken with twin objectives to overcome difficulties in filing physical reports, and to ensure timely filing in a standardised format.
The portal will facilitate the online filing of Contribution Report, Audited Annual Account and Election Expenditure Statement by political parties.
These financial statements are required to be submitted by political parties to the Election Commission/Chief Electoral Officers of States/Union Territories, as per the Representation of People's Act, 1951 and transparency guidelines issued by the Commission, from time to time, over the last many years, the poll panel said.
"The online availability of data is expected to enhance the level of compliance and transparency. In the letter, the EC pointed to the pivotal position of political parties, and stressed that it is incumbent on them to adhere to the principles of democratic functioning and transparency in electoral processes, particularly in financial disclosures," the statement said.
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SC to hear pleas for reviewing wages of priests, temple staff
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, 'sevadars' and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is likely to hear the PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to the priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
"Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employee' under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21," it said.
Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing 'Rudrabhishek' in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.
"Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. State is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43)," it said.
The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index has forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further marginalisation of priests and temple staff.
Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the 'Dandayuthapani Swami Temple' in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting 'dakshina' in 'aarti plates'.
"It is necessary to state that priests in such temples often receive no formal salary from the State and rely entirely on 'Dakshina'; the State's administrative order directly threatened them with starvation. Although withdrawn due to public outrage, the incident highlights the State's arbitrary power over the survival of the priests. This is also a bitter truth that States are controlling lakhs of temples but not a single mosque or church," the PIL claimed.
The petition, alternatively, sought direction to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps for the welfare of priests, sevadars and other temple staff in the spirit of the Allahabad High Court's earlier judgments.
