The Election Commission has drawn up an exhaustive plan of action to tackle the problem of money power in the coming Assembly elections in four States and the Union Territory of Puducherry. These measures can be adopted in all further elections:
- Two components of the reform: Preventive and Punitive
- Preventive Measures: Voers literacy for ethical voting, meetings with people forum, NGO, urging candidates for self-restraint.
- Declaring those Constituencies which have poor track record of over expenses as Expenditure- sensitive constituencies.
- Appointment of Expenditure observers in each district from IRS, Indian customs and central excise services and Income tax.
- Separate bank account and no cash transaction for every candidate. Candidates need to inform the commission for one time withdrawal of Rs. one lakh or more. All transactions must be made through Cheque.
- Complaints call centre. Static and moving survilleyence employing flying squads.
- Media certification and Monitoring committees to check paid news business.
- Central govt has been recommended to increase the expenditure ceiling. Pointing out that the present ceiling was fixed in 1996, he said the Commission had proposed to enhance the existing ceiling for a Lok Sabha candidate from Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 40 lakh and for a contestant in Assembly elections, from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 16 lakh.
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