Page 71 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Democracy Marches Ahead Chapter 3

A pilot project of the photo iden ty card for the voters-
undertaken in Calcu a South West Parliamentary
Cons tuency- for the bye-elec on of May, 1960 – did not
succeed. Of approximately 3,42,000 voters in the
cons tuency only 2,13,000 could be effec vely
photographed, out of whom around 2,10,000 could be
supplied with photo iden ty cards, as the Government
subsequently informed in Rajya Sabha on December 17,
1964. Therea er the project was shelved for almost two
decades. Photo iden ty cards were issued for the
October, 1979 assembly elec ons in Sikkim. The idea was
subsequently implemented in other north-eastern states
like Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland. This was a
precursor to na onwide launch of Electors Photo Iden ty
Cards in 1994.

CEC Sukumar Sen examining samples of ballot boxes
with P.S. Subramaniam, Secretary of the Election Commission

Sukumar Sen re red from his post on December 19, 1958.
He had the sa sfac on of seeing the Representa on of the
People (Amendment) Bill, 1958 introduced in Lok Sabha by
his younger brother and Union Law Minister Ashoke Kumar
Sen on November 27, 1958. One of its interes ng
provisions (vide its Clause 25) was the introduc on of
photo iden ty cards -incorporated under Sec on 61 of the
Representa on of the People Act, 1951. Within days of KVK
Sundaram, becoming India's second and longest serving
Chief Elec on Commissioner (Dec 20, 1958-Sept 30, 1967),
the Bill was enacted into law on December 30, 1958. CEC KVK Sundaram addressing a Press Conference in New Delhi, 1967

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