EC withdraws proposal for joint running of institute

Following the law ministry's objection to its proposal for jointly running an international institute for training and management of elections with the government, the Election Commission (EC) has withdrawn its move.

Following the law ministry's objection to its proposal for jointly running an international institute for training and management of elections with the government, the Election Commission (EC) has withdrawn its move.

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Chief election commissioner SY Quraishi, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, informed him about the commission's decision to take back its proposal for an autonomous society to run the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM).

“This institute became functional in June last year. On the basis of our eight-month experience so far, we feel it is working perfectly... Therefore, the proposal has been withdrawn,” Quraishi said.

Through the institute, the EC intends to showcase to the international community how it manages to conduct impartial elections in the world’s largest democracy on a regular basis.

Quraishi refused to be drawn into arguments raised by the law ministry, questioning the need for setting up the institute. “The finance ministry has provided Rs 50 crore, and the DDA has provided land in Dwarka, Delhi. We have now decided to run it as an autonomous institute of the commission,” he said.