Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Mar 23 (Reporter) Noting that the present system (electoral bonds) does not prevent donors influencing government in policy decisions or favours in tenders, former chief Election commissioner T S Krishna Murthy on Saturday suggested creation of the National Election Fund to get donations from any donor disclosing the names with 100 per cent tax exemptions for the donors instead of electoral bonds. In his inaugural address at the roundtable meeting on 'Electoral Bonds in India: Is it Transparent and Accountable in Poll Funding?, organised by the Academy of Grassroots Studies and Research of India (AGRASRI) through Zoom, Krishna Murthy also suggested to remove all restrictions and allow political parties to raise openly from donors and make them disclose or subject to audit. This will only aggravate the present problem only, as rich and influential persons will contest elections, he remarked. Such funds will remove embarrassment to donors favouring only certain parties in power or in opposition, he opined. Electoral Bonds (EB) are not transparent even if disclosures of donors' names are available, as they will be used by letterpad, loss-making companies and cash (black money) contributors, said former chief Election commissioner. Tainted money or foreign money can be disguised through unknown banana companies, he observed. Elaborating the poll-funding system in various Western countries and particularly in Canada, Krishna Murthy argued that the electoral reforms, including a separate law regulating political parties, is a must. Draft already prepared by Association for Democratic Reforms needs to be debated and considered, but none of the political parties have evinced any interest in electoral reforms, as they seem to be happy with the status quo, he said. What is striking is no political party mentions the need for electoral reforms even in their party manifesto, he noted...////...