Page 238 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Leap of Faith Journey of Indian Elections

c) Ins tu on and Organiza on
d) Delimita on
e) Electoral Management
f) Electoral Roll
g) Human Resource
h) Electoral Literacy and Educa on
i) Leveraging IT for e-Governance

j) Documenta on and Innova ve Prac ces
k) Electoral Reforms
l) Interna onal Coopera on
also vest the rule making powers (subsidiary legisla on) to
m) Stakeholder Engagement
the Central Government. On aspects not covered under
n) Audit and any law the Elec on Commission is free to act by itself. A

o) Risk Management. prominent example is the Model Code of Conduct, which
since 1968 has evolved into comprehensive protocol,
Two sets of melines were iden fied for comple ng the without any legal backing.
tasks– 2016 to 2020 and 2021 to 2025.
The Elec on Commission as a vibrant ins tu on has
Based on the Census of India figures, 2011 the document always come up with fresh ideas to make the future
an cipates a 20 percent rise in the number of electors over elec ons be er. These ideas have been borne out of
a ten-year period. That, in real terms, “will mean a experience of conduc ng the elec ons. During the 1950s
popula on projected at 1.46 billion with approximately 1 to 70s, it used to put those ideas in public domain by lis ng
billion voters”. This would have implica ons for the logis c them at the end of narra ve reports on the elec ons.
and manpower requirement. For instance, the number of Several of those recommenda ons would form the basis of
polling sta ons will need to be increased to around statutory amendments. Though this conven on has now
11,20,000 appx and number of EVMs to 22.50 lakh Ballot been discon nued, the Elec on Commission s ll pitches
Units and 21 lakh Control Unit by the end of the plan period. its recommenda ons to the Legisla ve Department,
Ministry of Law and Jus ce. Over the last three decades
The Elec on Commission is commi ed to constantly push
several high powered bodies have given their
forward the fron ers of efficiency, inclusion, accessibility recommenda ons of electoral reforms. These include
and transparency in electoral management. However,
fundamental aspects of representa on and elec on in a) Dinesh Goswami Commi ee on Electoral Reforms
India are governed by the statutes e.g. Representa on of (1990)
the People Acts, 1950 and 1951. Any amendment therein b) Indrajit Gupta Commi ee on State Funding of
has to be passed by Parliament of India. The same statutes Elec ons (1998)

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