Know about Election
Commission of India
The Election
Commission of India is an autonomous, constitutionally established federal
authority responsible for administering all the electoral processes in the
Republic of India. Under the supervision of the commission, free and fair
elections have been held in India at regular intervals as per the principles
enshrined in the Constitution. The Election Commission has the power
of superintendence, direction and control of all elections to the Parliament of
India and the state legislatures and of elections to the office of the
President of India and the Vice-President of India.
The
commission consists of a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two ElectionCommissioners
(EC), appointed by the President of India.
The Chief Election Commissioner
can be removed from his office by Parliament with two-thirds majority in Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the grounds of proven misbehavior or incapacity.
Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President on the
recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The Chief Election Commissioner
and the two Election Commissioners draw salaries and
allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India as per
the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners
(Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992. The current CEC is V Sundaram Sampath.
A
Constitutional Body
India is a
Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic and the largest democracy in the World.
The modern Indian nation state came into existence on 15th of August 1947.
Since then free and fair elections have been held at regular intervals as per
the principles enshrined in the Constitution, Electoral Laws and System.
The
Constitution of India has vested in the Election Commission of India
the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of
elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the offices of
President and Vice-President of India.
Election
Commission of India is a permanent Constitutional Body. The Election
Commission was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th
January 1950. The Commission celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2001. For
details, please click here
Originally
the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. It currently
consists of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
For the
first time two additional Commissioners were appointed on 16th October 1989 but
they had a very short tenure till 1st January 1990. Later, on 1st October 1993
two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The concept of
multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision making
power by majority vote.
Appointment
& Tenure of Commissioners
The
President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
They have tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is
earlier. They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available
to Judges of the Supreme Court of India. The Chief Election Commissioner
can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament.
The Setup
The
Commission has a separate Secretariat at New Delhi, consisting of about 300
officials, in a hierarchical set up.
Two or
three Deputy Election Commissioners and Director Generals who are the
senior most officers in the Secretariat assist the Commission. They are
generally appointed from the national civil service of the country and are
selected and appointed by the Commission with tenure. Directors, Principal
Secretaries, and Secretaries, Under Secretaries and Deputy Directors support
the Deputy Election Commissioners and Director Generals in turn. There is
functional and territorial distribution of work in the Commission. The work is
organised in Divisions, Branches and sections; each of the last mentioned units
is in charge of a Section Officer. The main functional divisions are Planning,
Judicial, Administration, Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral
Participation, SVEEP, Information Systems, Media and Secretariat Co-ordination.
The territorial work is distributed among separate units responsible for
different Zones into which the 35 constituent States and Union Territories of
the country are grouped for convenience of management.
At the state
level, the election work is supervised, subject to overall
superintendence, direction and control of the Commission, by the Chief
Electoral Officer of the State, who is appointed by the Commission from
amongst senior civil servants proposed by the concerned state
government. He is, in most of the States, a full time officer and has a small
team of supporting staff.
At the district and
constituency levels, the District Election Officers, Electoral
Registration Officers and Returning Officers, who are assisted by a large
number of junior functionaries, perform election work. They all
perform their functions relating to elections in addition to their other
responsibilities. During election time, however, they are available
to the Commission, more or less, on a full time basis.
The
gigantic task force for conducting a countrywide general election consists
of nearly five million polling personnel and civil police forces. This huge election
machinery is deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission and
is subject to its control, superintendence and discipline during the election period,
extending over a period of one and half to two months.
Political
Parties & the Commission
Political
parties are registered with the Election Commission under the law.
The Commission ensures inner party democracy in their functioning by insisting
upon them to hold their organizational elections at periodic intervals.
Political Parties so registered with it are granted recognition at the State
and National levels by the Election Commission on the basis of their poll performance at
general elections according to criteria prescribed by it. The Commission, as a
part of its quasi-judicial jurisdiction, also settles disputes between the
splinter groups of such recognised parties.
Election
Commission ensures a level playing field for the political parties in election fray,
through strict observance by them of a Model Code of Conduct evolved with the
consensus of political parties.
The
Commission holds periodical consultations with the political parties on matters
connected with the conduct of elections; compliance of Model Code of Conduct
and new measures proposed to be introduced by the Commission on election related
matters.
At Present
V. S. Sampath is the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Two Election
Commissioners are Harishankar Brahma And Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi
No comments:
Post a Comment