Voter Empowerment Workshop Held at JNU Campus in New Delhi
The National Reconstruction Society (NRS) organized a workshop on Voter Empowerment at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi on 24th February, 2010. The keynote address was delivered by the former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Shri T.S. Krishnamoorthy. He stressed on the need to restrict non-serious candidates, regulation on functioning of political parties, tackling corruption, rigging, penal provision for election offences, and tab on money and muscle power in elections.
New Delhi, India, April 13, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The National Reconstruction Society (NRS) organized a workshop on Voter Empowerment at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi on 24th February, 2010.
The workshop began with a keynote address by the former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Shri T.S. Krishnamoorthy. He pointed out a number of issues concerning voter empowerment. He stressed on the need to restrict non-serious candidates, regulation on functioning of political parties, tackling corruption, rigging, penal provision for election offenses, and tab on money and muscle power in elections.
The first session chaired by Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar, former Dean and Director In-charge of IIM-Ahmedabad dealt with issues on corruption and policy initiatives in the electoral system. The speakers, R.K. Ohri (former IG) and Dr. Ashwini Mahapatra gave an insight into the importance of electoral reforms. They were of the view that the degraded nature of our electoral process is a reflection of the overall denigration of our societal values. This problem, according to them, can be mitigated by the propagation of value education right from the primary school level.
In the pot-lunch session, which was chaired by Prof Arun Kumar, the issue of electoral reform was taken up. Prof. K.M. Chenoy stressed on the need for the implementation of the voters’ “right to recall” in order to enforce the accountability of the representative. He also supported the idea of state funding of elections to curb the menace of growing money and muscle power. Prof. Arun Kumar raised the issue of black money and its deeper penetration into the electoral system which could be curbed through peaceful democratic movements. He further suggested that linkages among the various civil societies and voluntary organizations should be developed so that such peaceful democratic movements can become united and powerful enough to fight against the ever-growing corruption in the electoral system. Shri Subrahmaniam Swami while stressing on the need of transparency and verifiability in the voting process raised his concern regarding the high chances of manipulation that can be done to the existing electronic voting machine (EVM). He stressed “voter empowerment will be ensured when every vote is counted” and this is not guaranteed by the EVM that is currently being used in the country. So research should be done to make the EVM technically more reliable.
The workshop concluded with the valedictory remarks of Mr. R. Ananthanarayana, general secretary, NRS. The workshop was successful in arousing interest and to enlighten students and researchers, mainly from JNU, who attended the workshop in large numbers. The workshop was able to shed light on different aspects of voter empowerment that constitutes an important part of any democracy.
Further information about the Voter Empowerment program can be obtained from, or by calling Mr. Shailendra Kumar @ 0 93413 21940 (Mobile)
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The workshop began with a keynote address by the former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Shri T.S. Krishnamoorthy. He pointed out a number of issues concerning voter empowerment. He stressed on the need to restrict non-serious candidates, regulation on functioning of political parties, tackling corruption, rigging, penal provision for election offenses, and tab on money and muscle power in elections.
The first session chaired by Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar, former Dean and Director In-charge of IIM-Ahmedabad dealt with issues on corruption and policy initiatives in the electoral system. The speakers, R.K. Ohri (former IG) and Dr. Ashwini Mahapatra gave an insight into the importance of electoral reforms. They were of the view that the degraded nature of our electoral process is a reflection of the overall denigration of our societal values. This problem, according to them, can be mitigated by the propagation of value education right from the primary school level.
In the pot-lunch session, which was chaired by Prof Arun Kumar, the issue of electoral reform was taken up. Prof. K.M. Chenoy stressed on the need for the implementation of the voters’ “right to recall” in order to enforce the accountability of the representative. He also supported the idea of state funding of elections to curb the menace of growing money and muscle power. Prof. Arun Kumar raised the issue of black money and its deeper penetration into the electoral system which could be curbed through peaceful democratic movements. He further suggested that linkages among the various civil societies and voluntary organizations should be developed so that such peaceful democratic movements can become united and powerful enough to fight against the ever-growing corruption in the electoral system. Shri Subrahmaniam Swami while stressing on the need of transparency and verifiability in the voting process raised his concern regarding the high chances of manipulation that can be done to the existing electronic voting machine (EVM). He stressed “voter empowerment will be ensured when every vote is counted” and this is not guaranteed by the EVM that is currently being used in the country. So research should be done to make the EVM technically more reliable.
The workshop concluded with the valedictory remarks of Mr. R. Ananthanarayana, general secretary, NRS. The workshop was successful in arousing interest and to enlighten students and researchers, mainly from JNU, who attended the workshop in large numbers. The workshop was able to shed light on different aspects of voter empowerment that constitutes an important part of any democracy.
Further information about the Voter Empowerment program can be obtained from, or by calling Mr. Shailendra Kumar @ 0 93413 21940 (Mobile)
###
Contact
National Reconstruction Society
Shailendra Kumar
0 93413 21940
nationalreconstruction.in
Shailendra Kumar
0 93413 21940
nationalreconstruction.in
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