The President of India Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil has emphasized the need to curb the influence of money power in the elections besides looking at the criteria for contesting candidates so that criminals are debarred from contesting elections. Electoral practices and procedures should be constantly be improved to further strengthening our democracy. Good electoral practices and high conduct will attract the youth as well as talented and capable people to politics . “ We should also be constantly looking at how processes can be improved, and how our democracy can be further strengthened. Some of the persistent concerns are the criteria for candidates to fight elections, so that criminals and other such elements are debarred from contesting elections. Good electoral practices and high conduct will attract the youth as well as talented and capable people to politics. The influence of money needs to be curbed. Elections are not about buying votes, it is about selecting candidates committed to working for the aspirations of the people and hence, eligible to be a representative of the people.” The President was speaking at the valedictory function of Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission of India ( ECI) and launch of National Voters’ day here today.
“Money can distort choices of the people, when voters are influenced through free distribution of goods, or through distortion of perception through paid news. I am sure that the Election Commission will continue to look at ways and means to make our electoral processes and procedures much more robust and free of any malpractices,” the President said. “If need be, necessary legislation and procedures must be introduced to achieve these objectives,” she added.
Commending the ECI’s role in conducting successfully 15 Lok Sabha and more than 300 elections to the State Legislative Assemblies in over last six decades, thereby facilitating peacefully, orderly and democratic transfer of power, the President said this experience gained by the ECI has enabled it to improve and adopt latest technological tools for enhancing quality and quantity of its operations.
The President expressed her happiness to commemorate the founding day of the Election Commission - the 25th of January - from now onwards, which will be observed as the National Voter's Day every year, to spread awareness among voters about effective participation in the electoral process. “Comprehensive and correct electoral rolls are the very foundation of a successful election. Every year a significant number of young people on attainment of 18 years of age also become eligible as voters. In spite of the annual exercise for the revision of electoral rolls, a significant number of new voters do not come on to the voters list for one reason or another,” she added . Lauding the ECI for this initiative , she said that in order to overcome this, the Commission has decided to carry out a regular exercise to identify all eligible voters, across the more than eight lakh polling stations in the country, and give to them Election Photo Identity Cards on 25th January at every polling station. To launch the National Voters Day at the National level, the President , on the occasion conferred the Electors Photo Identify Cards to five young girls and boys , who turned 18 as on 1st January ,2011 and became the newly registered voters on the first National Voters Day.
Complimenting the ECI for the gigantic mechanism and efforts put in for the smooth functioning of the electoral process, the President said “Now the Election Commission is fulfilling the dream of Mahatma Gandhi. At one stroke by giving voting rights, the barriers of caste, creed, gender, rich and poor, religious discrimination all were brushed aside, and all came on one platform, and became the pillar of a robust democracy. The Election Commission thus brought that dream into reality.”
In his welcome address , Dr S.Y. Quraishi , the Chief Election Commissioner ( CEC) said “The National Voters’ Day is borne out of a deep concern of the Election Commission of India to involve every Indian in the democratic electoral process and to create a situation in which each eligible person exercises his or her franchise, in true blossoming of democracy.” He said that today, at about 800,000 Polling Stations around the country, exactly the same thing is happening, that newly eligible and registered voters are being given their political empowerment by means of their Voter Identity Cards. They are also being administered pledge to “vote in every election fearlessly and without being influenced by considerations of religion, race, caste, community, language or any inducement”. They all have been given a badge that reads “Proud to be a Voter, Ready to Vote”, the CEC added. He further said that following the special countrywide campaign in the just concluded revision of electoral rolls, 5.2 millions of youth who turned 18 as on 1st January have been additionally enrolled. The overall additional enrolment is 17 million. He hoped that this initiative will give the youth a sense of citizenship, empowerment, pride and participation and also inspire them to exercise their franchise, when the occasion comes. Commission’s objective is to use this occasion to make universal adult suffrage a complete reality and thereby enhance the quality of Indian democracy. The day will also be utilized to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process, Dr Quraishi added.
Dr Quraishi also announced the decision of decision of the ECI to consolidate the country’s election management skills available from the polling station level upwards at a central institute, named as the Indian Institute of Democracy and Election Management - IIDEM. and build up a resource centre accompanied by in-depth documentation for learning by both national and international practitioners of elections and related fields.
While speaking on the occasion, Dr Veerappa Moily , Minister for Law & Justice said that democracy in the country has stood the test of time and we all are proud of it and new movement in the shape of “ National Voters Day” will take this message forward. He further said that this day will provide impetus to the comprehensive agenda set for Electoral Reforms by both Ministry of Law & Justice and ECI. In order to take it forward , seven state and one National level consultations with all stakeholders are planned , out of which three consultations are already held , he added.
In her address, Smt. Meera Kumar, Speaker , Lok Sabha lauded the role of Election Commission in conducting the free and fair elections in the country. She called the elections conducted by ECI as “Green Elections” because of conserving trees with the usage of Electronic Voting Machines for election purposes.
Smt. Ambika Soni , Minister of Information & Broadcasting in her address said that Election Commission has played a crucial role in strengthening electoral processes and hoped that the new initiative will reinforce the trust of voters in the electoral process. She also assured to ECI the total support of media units under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in vigorously joining hands with it to popularise its campaign “ Proud to be a Voter , Ready to Vote”. Smt Soni handed over the CD of a short commemorative film on Indian Elections in the last 60 years, brought out with active support of Doordarshan, to the Hon’ble President for releasing on the occasion.
Shri V.S. Sampath , Election Commissioner gave the introduction of “ Best Electoral Practices Awards , which were presented by the President to eight District Election officers , Superintendents of Police for their efforts in introducing the innovative practices in conducting elections in their respective Districts.
The function was attended by the leaders of all National and State level Political parties, Constitutional and statutory authorities, former Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners , members of the diplomatic corps and over 30 Heads of National Electoral Management Bodies from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Guyana, Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Botswana. Representatives of International IDEA Sweden; IFES, USA, AAEA, Taiwan; Malaysian Commonwealth Study Centre, UK , University of North Carolina, USA also attended the function.
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