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 Election Commissioners (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 misbehaviour 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
