Political parties gain as philanthropy takes a back seat

Indians seem to have become more generous toward political parties but have tightened their purse strings toward charities, according to two sets of data released recently.

Donations to national-level political parties more than doubled to Rs 622 crore in 2014-15, according to data released this week by the Association of Democratic Reforms on party funding above Rs 20,000.

On the other hand, India has slumped to 106th position in the World Giving Index of the Charities Aid Foundation as the proportion of people donating to charity fell.