The Election Commission of India (ECI) today announced a comprehensive set of 18 new initiatives with the aim of strengthening the election process, improving voter experience and promoting more transparency and efficiency. These reforms are spread in major areas including voters, political parties, procedural reforms, legal structures and development of election workers.
A. To increase the experience of voters:
Voter limit according to the polling station: To ensure a smooth voting experience and effectively manage the crowd, maximum voters at a polling station have been limited to 1200.
• Increased polling access: Additional polling booths will be set up in high-growth and large colonies to increase access to voters.
• Broken electoral roll update: For more accurate and timely electoral roll updates, ECI will now get direct death registration data from RGI (Registrar General of India) database with subsequent updates of direct verification.
• Voter Information slip correction: Voter information slip will be made more election-eligible, in which the serial number and part number will be displayed prominently for ease of identifying the voter.
B. Attach with political parties:
• PAN-India All-party meetings: ECI has successfully held 4,719 PAN-India all-party meetings at the level of CEO, DEO and ERO, in which more than 28,000 representatives from political parties participated, promoted dialogue and cooperation.
• High-level consultation: The Election Commission held direct meetings with heads of major national and state political parties including AAP, BJP, BSP, CPI (M) and NPP to address major election issues.
• Capacity building for booth level agents: A capacity building programs have been started for booth level agents (BLAS) at India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
C. Driving procedural improvement:
• Integrated dashboard – ECINET: A significant step towards digitization, ECI has introduced a new integrated dashboard – ECINET. It aims to provide all services to all stakeholders at the same point, effectively replacing more than 40 different applications and websites with a single, comprehensive platform.
• Unique epic number: The long -standing issue of duplicate epic (Electoral Photo Identity Card) numbers has been resolved, which now has a new mechanism for unique epic numbers.
D. Strengthening the legal structure:
• Registrar-centered training: ECI has identified 28 major stakeholders in the election process, including voters, election officials, political parties and candidates. Based on the representation of the Peepal Act 1950, 1951, the registration of the rules of the voters is 1960, the conduct of election rules, 1961, and ECI instructions, training presentations are being prepared for each of these stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
E. Strong Election Staff:
• Standard Photo ID for BLOS: Booth level officer (BLOS) will now be provided with a standard photo ID card, which increases their official recognition.
• Wide capacity building in IIIDEM: IIIDEM, New Delhi, is leading comprehensive capacity building programs. Over 3000 booth level supervisors have already been trained, there are plans to train more than 1 lakh blo observers in the coming years.
• Exercise for SMNOS and MNOS: Senior Management Nodal Officers (SMNOS) from all 36 states/UTS CEO offices have been organized in IIIDEM for Nodal Officers (SMNOS) and Management Nodal Officers (MNO).
• Police Training: Training has also been conducted for Bihar police officers in IIIDEM, which ensures better coordination and understanding of election protocols.
F. Increased internal operation of ECI:
• Biometric attendance: ECI has applied biometric appearance to its employees, promoting more and more accountability and efficiency.
• E-office rollout: The operation and rollout of the e-office will further streamline internal processes and reduce the use of paper.
• Regular meetings with the CEO: Regular meetings with the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) will continue to promote effective communication and coordination in all states and center areas.
These 18 initiatives underlines the Election Commission of India to the Election Commission of unwavering commitment to make independent, fair and transparent elections, and continuously improve the democratic process for all citizens.
