MUMBAI, January 29: Tata group chairman Ratan Tata's grand idea to cleanse the Indian political system by launching a special trust to fund elections is all set to crash-land. Many corporates, including Tata group companies, have still not contributed to the election fund, thus making it a non-starter.Dinesh Vyas, senior advocate and chairman of the new trust said: ``The corporate sector is tightening its purse strings during the current election due to depressed market conditions in India and the collapse of the Asian markets. The boards of various Tata companies are yet to take a decision on contribution.''
Ratan Tata had announced in the annual general meetings (AGMs) of various Tata group companies the launch of an election fund which would be donating funds to political parties in order to bring transparency into the industry funding of politicians. But corporate India would prefer to stick to traditional routes of funding, rather than adopt the path-breaking idea floated by Tata, industryrepresentatives said.
``Business houses are in poor shape with very little money in the market. Consequently, people are clinging to funds,'' Vyas said. Without giving any figures about the funds collected by the trust so far, Vyas said: ``I don't want to come out with figures, but a lot of contributions are in the pipeline,'' Vyas said. These include some Tata group companies whose boards will decide shortly, he noted.
When contacted, various corporates told this newspaper that they were not interested in contributing to the trust. Irfan Khan, belonging to India's third largest corporate, Hindustan Lever Ltd, said: ``It is our company policy not to fund elections, despite corporate funding being made legal. Therefore, the question of contributing to the Tata electoral fund does not arise.''
Vijay Kalantri, president of All India Association of Industries (AIAI) said: ``I wonder whether any corporate can contribute to the fund due to the recession. As most of the corporate funds to the politicians aredonated in black, that too expecting some quid pro quo, I doubt whether the Tata fund would get even Rs five from other companies.''
An Essar group official said the group will not contribute to any election fund from any individual company's kitty.
In fact, gauging the trend, Bombay House (the headquarters of the Tata group) is keeping an arm's distance from the fund. A Tata spokesperson clarified that the Tatas have nothing to do with the fund, and any query on the fund should be addressed to Vyas.
Trust chairman Vyas added: ``We are not going to tap any one or conduct a campaign to generate funds. The trust will depend entirely on media publicity for creating awareness among the corporates.''
According to the Tata plan, the funds generated were to be distributed in two equal installments to the political parties, based on their strength in the previous Lok Sabha.
To qualify for receiving funds from the trust, a political party will have to bag at least five per cent representation or 25 seats inthe Lok Sabha. This, Vyas said, will rule out the possibility of non-serious political parties and one-man outfits receiving funds from the trust. ``Corporate houses have an obligation to ensure that democracy survives in the country,'' Vyas pointed out. The trust included former municipal commissioner of Mumbai, D N Sukhtankar and social worker Hansa Mehta, besides Vyas.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
