PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that holding all the elections simultaneously will make Indian democracy stronger, effective and inclusive.
The CM participated in a dialogue with the Joint Parliamentary Committee headed by PP Singh on the topic ‘ One Nation One election’ here on Wednesday. He said that our election system has proved to be effective and strong despite the diversity, but due to staggered holding of elections, there is a necessity to enforce code of conduct at multiple times. It results in a situation where the administrative work comes to a stanstill.
Dhami said that large number of personnel have to be deployed in the election process which affect their original work.
The CM said that in the last three years, the administrative machinery of Uttarakhand was deprived of the process of taking policy decisions for 175 days as the MCC was in force due to Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and civic bodies elections. “For a small state with limited resources like Uttarakhand these 175 days are important from the point of view of governance, ” he said. He said the burden of the Vidhan Sabha elections is on State government while the Union government bears the expense of the Lok Sabha elections. Dhami said that in the case of simultaneous elections, the financial burden would be shared by both the Union and the State government and it will save about 30 to 35 per cent of the expenditure. The money saved can be used in the health, education, road constructio, water, agriculture and women empowerment sectors.
The CM said that in Uttarakhand, the period from June to September is the Monsoon period and during this time the Char Dham Yatra also operates. In such a situation problem occurs due to holding of the elections.
Similarly holding of the elections during the last quarter of the financial year affect administrative works. He added that the class X and XII board examinations are also held during this period which puts an additional burden on the administration.
Dhami opined that ‘ One Nation One Election’ will be beneficial for Uttarakhand which is predominantly mountainous State.
He added hat it is difficult to reach polling booths in remote areas of Uttarakhand, due to which the election process takes more time and resources. It is also challenging for voters in mountainous areas to participate in elections, due to frequent elections, people’s inclination towards voting decreases and the voting percentage also decreases, he said.
