Congress turns to members for funds

The Congress party has decided to turn to its nearly four crore members to fill its coffers. The Grand Old Party has also sweetened the deal for its members by offering them a five per cent cut on the funds raised by them.

The party is mulling a hike in its membership fees from Rs five per year to Rs 100 per year, with directions to deposit 90 per cent of the membership fee with the central organisation.

Also on the cards are structural changes, with district-level panels making way for committees representing each Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies. Members desirous of becoming an office-bearer of any committee from the Vidhan Sabha Congress Committee will pay an annual fee of Rs 1,000. Those keen on contesting polls as president of the VSCC will have to shell out Rs 5,000 per year. Any person can become a life member of the Congress by paying Rs 1 lakh.

For high-paying persons, the Congress has planned a “Donor” category, with perks of being a permanent invitee to delegate sessions in the Pradesh Congress Committee of his home state and also a seat at the All India Congress Committee meetings. “Any person can become a donor by giving a sum of Rs 10 lakh,” reads a presentation made at a meeting of top Congress functionaries.

The person responsible for the membership will get 10 per cent of the fee collected with the balance being distributed among the various party committees.

The AICC will also resort to the old practice of printing donation coupons that will be distributed through the state units to the Lok Sabha Congress Committee and the Vidhan Sabha Congress Committee.

From the monies generated through coupons, 5 per cent would be given to the person responsible for raising funds.