E-Paper
President Kovind, PM Modi hail ECI’s contribution on National Voters’ Day
President Kovind conferred the National Awards for the year 2020-21 and also launched the Election Commission of India’s web radio: ‘Hello Voters’ – an online digital radio service
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind hailed the immense contribution made by the Election Commission of India in ensuring free and fair elections, even during the seemingly insurmountable Covid-19 crisis, on Monday, celebrated as National Voters’ Day.
The voters’ day event was inaugurated by President Kovind, who virtually graced the occasion. He conferred the National Awards for the year 2020-21 and also launched the Election Commission of India’s web radio: ‘Hello Voters’ – an online digital radio service.
“I would like to remind the people that we should always respect the valuable right to vote,” Kovind said. “The right to vote is not a simple right; people around the world have struggled a lot for this. Since independence, our Constitution has given equal voting rights to all citizens without any discrimination on the basis of merit, religion, race, caste. For this, we are indebted to the makers of our Constitution.”
Also Read: SC refuses to entertain plea seeking ‘free and fair’ polls in West Bengal
He also highlighted the contributed of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, in ensuring that every citizen has access to universal adult franchise. He also praised the ECI for conducting successful and safe elections in Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also highlighted the contribution of the Commission in strengthening democracy by ensuring the smooth conduct of elections. “National Voters’ Day is an occasion to appreciate the remarkable contribution of the EC to strengthen our democratic fabric and ensure smooth conduct of elections. This is also a day to spread awareness on the need of ensuring voter registration, particularly among the youth,” tweeted PM Modi on Monday.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad unveiled the new digital voter ID card, which can be downloaded by any voter remotely after a basic KYC process.
The Election Commission of India on Monday, 25 January, rolled out a host of initiatives to mark the 11th National Voters’ Day celebrations. These include the digital voter id card or e-EPIC, the EC’s web radio and special booklet on National Voters’ Day.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said that the “great experiment”, the first general election held after independence, which subsequently earned the epithet of being “an act of faith”, had not only succeeded but has sustained itself.
“Even when the architecture of elections was being debated in the Constituent Assembly, the concern for inscribing institutional safeguards for ensuring that no voter was excluded from the Electoral Rolls prompted Dr BR Ambedkar to move a ‘radical amendment on June 15,1949 to set up an integrated centralised Election Commission for the country,” he said. “What prompted Dr Ambedkar to propose this change was the concept of inclusion and the focus on the voter as central to the act of conducting elections.”
Arora added that 2021 marks a new beginning with the launch of the digital voter card facility. “Also, Hello Voters, ECI’s own web radio and a first of its kind initiative will help us connect with our voters, listen to their stories and experiences of voting, and share our initiatives and information,” he said.
The outgoing CEC said that the Commission would leverage its experience from Bihar to conduct and prepare for the upcoming elections in four states of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Assam, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, due in the next few months. “We will leverage the experience gained in the Bihar election and ensure that these elections are free, fair, transparent, participative, ethical and safe,” he said.
