The government has notified the scheme of Electoral Bonds, aimed at cleaning the system of political funding in the country. The bonds will be a bearer instrument in the form of promissory note and will be an interest-free banking instrument.<br/><br/>Making a statement in the Lok Sabha yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, the bonds will be issued and purchased for any value in the multiples of one thousand, ten thousand, one lakh, ten lakh and one crore rupees from the specified branches of the State Bank of India. <br/><br/>The purchaser of the bonds will have to fulfil all the norms of Know your Customer (KYC) and have to make payment from a bank account. However, it will not carry the name of the payee. The bonds will have a life of only 15 days during which it can be used for making donation only to the registered political parties. <br/><br/>Mr Jaitley said, the bonds will be encashed by a political party only through a designated bank account with the authorized bank. The bonds will be available for purchase for ten days each in the months of January, April, July and October as may be specified by the Central Government.<br/><br/>However, in the year of General Elections to the Lok Sabha, an additional period of 30 days will be specified by the government. The scheme was announced earlier in the Budget of this fiscal.