Correspondent
KOHIMA, AUGUST 19
WITH the view that an accurate and error-free electoral roll is the pre-requisite for the conduct of free and fair elections, the state department of election Tuesday conducted a consultative meeting with various major political parties, NGOs and church bodies on ‘Clean Electoral Roll for Clean Election & SVEEP’ at Hotel Japfü, Kohima.
Chief Electoral Officer Nagaland, Sentiyanger Imchen, who chaired the proceedings of the marathon meeting highlighted the state’s electoral scenario and voiced concern that the people hardly pay any heed to orders and directives for conduct of free and fair elections in the state.He stated that the electoral rolls contain many discrepancies including names of non-resident electors and notional household numbers, inflated ages, under-aged voters, names of deceased voters, photos of non-local electors under local Naga names etc.
The official also pointed out that while about 63,700 possible multiple/double registration entries have been detected across the state, another 3874 cases of non-local image/photos appearing against local names in the electoral roll were detected in the current roll in the state. He stated that for enhanced participation of electors in the electoral process and reducing electoral malpractices, it is essential to improve the registration processes, which will in turn increase the fidelity of the electoral rolls.
Towards this, the election department has called upon all religious institutions that as moral guardians of its members, they endeavour to propagate the message on ethical electoral practices. Also, it appealed to NGOs to maintain neutrality and take upon the responsibility of spreading awareness and educating the citizens.
In his address, the parliamentary secretary for Election and I & FC, Vikheho Swu candidly said that Nagas are misrepresenting and misreading the true meaning of elections.
“Election is not to make or distribute money,” he asserted pointing to the cash flow involved in buying and selling of votes during elections. “We should feel embarrassed at the way we conduct our elections,” he said.
The parliamentary secretary stated that if the Nagas expect to be respected by others then the process of cleaning Nagaland should set in motion, starting with cleaning the election system. Towards this, he said the self-sustainability of the people should go side by side with the cleaning process, indicating that many people rely on politicians as they do not work and prefer to look for ways to get easy money.
He informed that the department would initially identify and emphasize on 11 constituencies for the conduct of clean election.
During the discussion, various suggestions were put across for promotion of clean electoral rolls and clean conduct of elections. The representatives of different political parties were of the view that everyone is responsible for making a corrupt society. It was pointed out that though the intention of the election model code of conduct is good, it is hardly put into practice and votes are purchased because there is “willing sellers”. It was also discussed that election is the celebration of democracy and as such, compulsory participation in voting, particularly the people in higher places such as bureaucrats, government officials and church leaders etc., needs to be considered seriously, as their presence on polling day will be a deterrent factor for anti-socials. They also stated that clean election campaigns look good at the top level, however, more guidelines are needed.
The church representatives expressed the need for churches irrespective of denominations to renew their Christian practices and strengthen the faith. “We have to introspect how accountable we are to ourselves,” a Catholic Association of Nagaland representative said.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) highlighted the features and activities of council’s Clean Election Campaign. She said the campaign is for elections at all levels and not just for major elections like the state assembly or parliamentary elections. It was also informed that the NBCC will be constituting a state level forum on clean elections and is currently calling on people who are willing to commit to this campaign to be on the core team.
The NGOs were more vocal on the existence of corrupt practices in the society. They expressed concern that corruption is present at all levels and stressed that the people urgently need to implement what they talk about. Emphasis was also laid on the need for the people to stop blaming one another and decide whether to clean the society from top to bottom or vice versa. It was also pointed out that the department needs to check whether the officials deputed on election duty are performing their duty or not.
On the concerns for illegitimate voters, it was suggested that the election department needs to tie up with the Home department. Also, a possible tie-up with related departments such as census, social welfare and education was also pointed out. The need for intensive campaigns involving the youth and students on ethical voting process was also discussed.
The house recommended that the department of election will take up with the school education department for inclusion of a lesson on ethical voting in school curriculum. It was also decided that a statewide campaign on conduct of clean election will be officially launched soon; all duplicates on the electoral roll should be deleted; non-local photos against local names will be cross-checked and deleted; forms for written pledge for ethical voting practice will be issued on National Voters’ Day; and churches should set aside at least one Sunday for promotion of clean elections.
Representatives from BJP, NCP, NPF, INC, Naga Hoho, NPMHR, NMA, NBCC, CAN, NCRC, ENPO, ENSF, YouthNet and The Naga Blog attended the meeting.
