During the last couple of days, since the announcement of general elections 2019 calendar and subsequent imposition of Model Code of Conduct by Election Commission of India, the entire nation has tiptoed into an atmosphere of alertness and vigil. With MCC as its arsenal, ECI as watchdog has trained its guns to the potential perpetrators of malpractices to ensure cent percent free and fair elections.

Black money has been a disgrace in democratic ethos of the nation for long and this time too there are perceptible signs of crusade against it by ECI who has been joined by Income Tax department to supplement its efforts. And as Arunachal Pradesh is facing a duo,the wakefulness, expectedly is also twofold and news of cash seizures which have just started trickling is an ample corroboration of it.

Avoiding jargons of economics, black money can be understood to be money that is not fully legitimate in the hands of the owner. The widely accepted reasons for it are, firstly the money may have been generated through illegitimate activities not permissible under law and punishable under current legal framework. The second and perhaps more likely reason is that the wealth may have been generated and accumulated by activities undertaken by the perpetrators which otherwise seem legitimate and permissible under law, but actually far from so, as there is a stark violation and bypass of tax requirements and the dues which are to be surrendered to public exchequer are parked in forbidden quarters instead.

Existence of black money in country’s economy in general and their savage presence in elections in particular is unquestionable and ECI is ruthless to uphold sanctity of elections- the most spectacular culmination of nation’s democratic discourse.

Concentrating only in Arunachal, the maximum limit of election expenses here is Rs.70 lakh per candidate for a Lok Sabha and Rs. 20 lakh per candidate for assembly constituencies. For greater transparency and for ease of monitoring of election expenses, candidates would be required to open a separate bank account and incur their election expenses from that very account and an election expenditure either by/to candidate(s) or political parties exceeding Rs. 10000 in all situations should be incurred by crossed account payee cheque or draft or by RTGS/NEFT or any other electronic mode linked with bank account of candidate opened exclusively for election purpose.

Democracy and elections are the best brands we have in country and inclusion of new methods to refine them further always usher new hopes in electorate. Fighting black money has always been baffling inspite of all whistleblowing and if ECI’s methodology succeeds, it can serve as a futuristic model for emulation for whole economy.