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The Hindu
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Procedural reforms, technology upgrade under way to strengthen election exercise, says EC official
The Election Commission of India (EC) is in the process of implementing several technology-level changes and on-the-ground procedural reforms aimed at strengthening election integrity, boosting elector participation and improving voter convenience, said its Deputy Director P. Pawan on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. While several improvements were targeted at electors, who were the building blocks of democracy, the EC has also initiated pan-India all-party meetings at the CEO/DEO/ERO level and interactions with the heads of national and State political parties, the deputy director at EC's media division said at an interaction with select media persons. 'This approach of proactively engaging with political parties is a paradigm shift,' Mr. Pawan said. On the technology front, an upgraded digitisation effort to build an ECINET platform is under way to facilitate rapid dissemination of VTR (voter turnout) figures, other electoral data and statistical reports. It will feature an integrated dashboard that can replace at least 40 different apps/websites and provide all election-related information at a single point. The platform is being beta tested and is likely to be launched before the Bihar elections, expected later this year, Mr. Pawan said. A new mechanism for unique Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) is also being put in place. This will largely eliminate duplication of EPIC numbers arising from increase in the proportion of voters that led to situations of different voters sharing identical alpha-numeric sequence. 'However, the instances of EPIC number duplication have been found to be minuscule,' Mr. Pawan said. Meanwhile, the EC is also exploring modalities of EPIC-Aadhaar linkage to avoid duplication or abuse. Technical consultations are in progress in this regard. According to Mr. Pawan, another measure was to break a nearly two-decade hiatus in conducting a special summary revision ahead of byelections scheduled in four places this month. 'While usually, these exercises are conducted annually, the law provides for undertaking a revision ahead of a byelection,' he said. The other changes, among the set of 23 new initiatives launched since Gyanesh Kumar took charge as Chief Election Commissioner earlier this year, were to introduce mobile phone deposit boxes at polling stations and reduce the number of electors per polling booth from 1,500 to 1,200 per booth to ease crowding, the EC official said. 'The phone deposit facility follows an assessment that barring the device was a likely factor dissuading people turning out to vote,' the official added. Another measure is to directly obtain particulars of death registration from the data base of the Registrar General to verify and update the electoral roll eliminating the need for the bereaved kin to submit Form 7 and to accentuate critical information in voter slips. The establishment of additional polling booths are envisaged in high-rises and residential colonies. Structured capacity building workshops under the auspices of the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in Delhi have been initiated for booth-level agents of political parties with a priority on the States that would enter the election cycle next. Booth-level officers are being assigned a standard photo id card while engaging in door-to-door visits. Also, a legal defence team is being constituted to disseminate outcomes of various writ challenges relating to the electoral processes via media platforms, he said. P. Jawahar, Chief Electoral Officer, M. Adarsh, Deputy CEO and other Elections Department officials participated.
New Indian Express
08-06-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
How Lions Club in Telangana's Nalgonda is helping reap sight from sorrow
NALGONDA: The legacy of one life in Nalgonda now holds the power to illuminate two others, thanks to the Nalgonda chapter of Lions Club. The dedicated effort of the members, helping transform grief into the gift of sight through timely cornea retrieval and innovative public 'Canopy Stalls', has scaled significantly: 131 corneas collected, 262 visions restored in 11 months. What sets the trust apart is its swift and compassionate response. Upon hearing of a death in the district, members reach out to grieving families, gently explaining the life-changing potential of eye donation. Once consent is given, the corneas are respectfully retrieved. Dr Harinath, managing director of the eye donation centre, notes that appeals on social media have helped boost participation. 'From August last year to May this year, we collected 125 corneas, giving sight to 250 people,' he tells TNIE. With family approval, three cadavers were also donated to the Nalgonda Government Medical College. Dr Harinath stressed the importance of timely action. Eye donations must be made within 6–8 hours of death, or 12–15 hours if the body is preserved in a freezer box. He also pointed to the urgent national need, with over 13 lakh people in India awaiting corneal transplants. 'Timing is everything' In a standout move, the trust has launched 'Canopy Stalls' — eye donation awareness booths set up not in hospitals, but in high-footfall public spaces across Nalgonda. While most efforts remain hospital-bound, these stalls bring the message directly to the people. Chandrashekar, coordinator of the trust, explained the idea behind this approach. 'Many families are willing to donate but lack information and proceed with cremation. One eye donor can restore sight to two individuals, but timing is everything,' he said. The results have been immediate. In just four days, two canopy stalls saw 40 people commit to eye donation, signing Form 7 as per the Union government guidelines. Some even pledged to donate other organs. Dr Pullarao, manager of the eye donation centre, urged more citizens to come forward. 'Thousands are waiting. Your one act can be someone's second chance at life,' he says.
News18
29-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
CEC Gyanesh Kumar Completes 100 Days: Here Are 21 Reforms Launched By Election Commission
Last Updated: These initiatives come at a time when the ECI has faced considerable scrutiny following various elections Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, who took charge of the Election Commission of India on February 19, completed 100 days in office on Thursday. In recent weeks, the ECI, under his leadership, has introduced numerous reforms and changes to provide a smoother experience for both voters and political parties while also streamlining election management. In a statement, the commission said, 'A slew of purposeful, pragmatic and proactive measures has marked the first 100 days of the 26th Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's tenure. The vision for a reinvigorated ECI was charted out by the CEC in the presence of Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi during the Conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) held in March 2025." These initiatives come at a time when the ECI has faced considerable scrutiny following various elections. Voters first Several voter-centric initiatives have been launched, including guidelines for setting up additional polling booths in high-rises and residential colonies to reduce travel time for voters. The commission has also reduced the maximum number of voters per polling station from 1,500 to 1,200, minimising waiting times. Electoral roll updates will now incorporate death registration data directly from the Registrar General of India (RGI) database, subject to verification. This replaces the previous system where a family member had to file Form 7 for the deletion of a deceased voter's name. Voter information slips will be made more user-friendly, with prominent display of serial and part numbers. Furthermore, mobile phone deposit facilities will be provided outside polling stations, addressing a previous logistical challenge for voters. The commission has also replaced all duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers with unique identifiers. In total, 28 stakeholders, including electors, election officials, political parties, and candidates, have been identified within the electoral process. Reforms are being implemented with each of these stakeholders in mind. Training presentations based on the commission's acts, rules, and instructions are being developed for each stakeholder group. Engagement with political parties To enhance trust with political parties, the commission has introduced reforms to improve communication and address concerns. Over 4,700 all-party meetings have been conducted across India at the electoral registration officer (ERO), district election officer (DEO), and chief electoral officer (CEO) levels, involving more than 28,000 party representatives. CEOs oversee elections at the state level, DEOs at the district level, and EROs at the assembly constituency level. These decentralised meetings ensure that party workers at all levels remain informed throughout the electoral process. The commission is also meeting national and state party leaders. Of the six national parties, the CEC has met the presidents of five: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), and National People's Party (NPP). Further meetings are planned after the current by-elections. Canvassing distance norms have been relaxed, allowing candidates and parties to set up booths beyond 100 metres, compared to the previous 200-metre limit. Capacity-building programmes for booth-level agents have been conducted in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. Internal changes and capacity building The commission has launched ECINET, a new integrated dashboard providing all services for all stakeholders at a single point, replacing over 40 apps and websites. A national conference of counsels representing the ECI and CEOs was organised to strengthen synergy and refine the legal framework. Standardised photo ID cards for booth-level officers (BLOs) have also been introduced. Training has been conducted for over 3,500 booth-level supervisors, with an additional 6,000 BLOs/BLO supervisors scheduled for training in the next 45 days across approximately 20 batches. Regular meetings between the ECI and CEOs of all 36 states/union territories are being held to improve coordination between their offices and various ECI divisions. First Published:
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Delay in recognising school correspondent irks teachers
Seven teachers from Kamaraj Middle School at South Kallikulam in the district staged a sit-in protest at District Registrar Office (DRO) in Tirunelveli demanding recognition of their school correspondent as the delay was affecting teachers' salaries and other benefits. Kamaraj Middle School, a minority government aided institution operating under the Catholic Christian Nadar Mahimai Association, is currently functioning with 250 students and seven teachers. An election for the association was conducted through a ballot system on October 27, last year, during which retired teacher S. Mariyaraj was elected as the new president, who is also the correspondent of the school. Following that, Mr. Mariyaraj submitted a formal application for registration under Form 7 at the DRO office on November 20, 2024. Although the DRO accepted the application, the registration process has been delayed for over six months. Due to this delay, the appointment letter for the school correspondent, issued by the District Educational Officer has not been processed. As a result, Mr. Mariyaraj has been unable to sign off on teachers' salaries and other financial matters. Leons Lettiezia Thangam, Head Mistress of the school, said that she has been working in the school for the past 30 years and this was the first time where official matters have affected the salaries of the teachers. 'Apart from salary issues we are unable to obtain an annual genuinity certificate. I am set to retire on June 30. While the retiring procedures for staff from other schools have been completed, mine has not even begun,' she added. The teachers along with their families are urging the government to take necessary steps to resolve the issue, as the delay could impact the reputation of the school.
Time of India
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Cong alleges multiple discrepancies in Ludh west voter list
Ludhiana: After the administration released the voter list for the Ludhiana West bypoll , the Congress claimed to have found multiple discrepancies in the voter lists, for which the party will file objections. Congress alleged that about 40 votes in ward number 65 of Haibowal area had been excluded from the list. The party also said that the people whose votes had been excluded had been exercising their franchise for years. In ward number 72, Jawahar Nagar area, the Congress claimed to have detected double votes for people with separate voter card the MC elections, several voters said that their names had been struck off the voter list. They said that since their names were not on the list, they were not allowed to cast their vote despite producing voter cards. The Congress blamed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for this. When Ludhiana West bypoll was announced after the sudden demise of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi, the Congress raised suspicion of discrepancies in the list again. With the beginning of the electoral roll revision process in the constituency, Congress leaders claimed that a few voter lists were being manipulated. On March 31, Punjab Congress Working president, who is also Congress candidate for the bypoll, Bharat Bhushan Ashu , complained to the Election Commission of India about the manipulation of voter list by the Aam Aadmi Party govt. In a letter to the ECI, Ashu alleged that the AAP govt was deleting names from voter lists "summarily and arbitrarily" without giving any chance to the voters concerned. Ashu claimed that he had enclosed voice recordings of additional deputy commissioner, Ludhiana, Rupinder Pal, instructing Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to fill Form 7 to delete names from voter lists. Ashu also said that most BLOs refused to do so. He claimed that the local administration was making fresh votes to neutralise the impact of deleting a massive number of voters on the instructions of the Aam Aadmi Party govt."Our team checked the draft list of voters and found discrepancies. In Haibowal's ward number 65, about 135 voters were cancelled, of which about 40 genuine votes were also struck off. In fact, BLOs said that these were genuine votes but despite that, their names were deleted from the list. In Jawahar Nagar's ward number 72, multiple votes of one person were found. We are sending objections to get it all rectified," Ashu asserted. On April 12, there was uproar in Ghumar Mandi when Congress leader Inderjit Singh Indi, a close associate of Ashu, claimed to have caught a few individuals trying to manipulate the voter list. Two such incidents were reported in ward Number 61, Ghumar Mandi and Prem Nagar. Congress leaders said that they caught a few persons asking residents about their votes and "crossing" names of a few voters in the list. Indi alleged that these people were engaging residents in conversation to ascertain their political inclinations and which party they were likely to vote for. Indi said that based on this exercise, AAP was trying to get names of those critical of the state government removed from the list."After these incidents, we assigned one person from each ward to visit the DC office to keep a check on updates made in the electoral roll. There were attempts at making new, bulk votes, however, we kept a check daily and kept objecting to the bogus votes," Ashu said. Charges levelled Congress allegations : Discrepancies found in the Ludhiana West bypoll voter list Ward 65: About 40 votes excludedWard 72: Double votes detected with separate voter card IDs Previous Issues: Voters' names missing during MC elections. People not allowed to vote despite producing voter card Blame: Congress accuses AAP of manipulating voter lists Complaint to ECI: Congress leader and bypoll candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu will file a complaint with the Election Commission of India DC's response: Deputy commissioner/district election officer, Himanshu Jain, said, "I have not received any such complaint yet. I will direct the ERO to address each concern on priority once it is received. De-duplication of votes will be addressed immediately. As far as the issue of votes is concerned, the ERO will get it checked through the BLO. Genuine votes can be made till the last day of nominations."Ashu's claimOur team checked the draft list of voters and found discrepancies. In Haibowal's ward number 65, about 135 voters were cancelled, of which about 40 genuine votes were also struck off. In fact, BLOs said that these were genuine votes but despite that, their names were deleted from the list. In Jawahar Nagar's ward number 72, multiple votes of one person were found. We are sending objections to get it all rectifiedMSID:: 121109519 413 |
