ONE POLL ; ONE TIME ?

In a TV interview , 2 days back , Shri Narendra Modi  said :

" Frequent elections affect the functioning of bureaucracy and there should be simultaneous elections to  Panchayat  bodies, Assemblies and Parliament to save time and money .

 Country ‘unfortunately’ witnesses elections regularly, because of which everything is linked to polls.

Every decision is weighed in the balance of elections. It is time to de-link decisions taken from the elections. The early we do so, the better it is. When the elections come, there will be manifestos. It is the need of the hour to separate politics from work "

President , Shri Pranab Mukherjee , also supports this idea

In another TV debate on this subject, ex-CEC , Shri Naveen Chawala , welcomed such a move but expressed concern about adequate availability of EVM machines and para-military forces to protect some  930,000  polling booths on the same day

An editorial in Hindustan Times ( 07 Sept 2016 ) writes :

" The three reasons why some politicians want ( simultaneous ) elections is this : Frequent elections bring policy-making to a standstill ; the Cost ; and increases in vices such as communal-ism, caste-ism, corruption and crony capitalism "

I earnestly request the Policy Makers ( Ministers / MPs / MLAs / Secretaries / Party Presidents etc ) to debate my following suggestion ( sent to them earlier thru e-mails and being sent again , today  ) :

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Thursday, 31 March 2016

One day Polling is Possible

DNA ( 31 March 2016 ) reports :

"  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mooted a proposal to hold simultaneous elections to Panchayats , State Assemblies and Parliament across the country

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel , Public Grievances , Law and Justice had in December , recommended holding simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections to reduce expenditure and frequent disruption of normal life  "

Not only it is possible to do this ( in ONE DAY ) but it has the potential to bring about Electoral Reforms of far reaching beneficial impact

Following is the suggestion that I sent to Shri Narendra Modiji on 06 Nov 2014 :

VotesApp

( from my blog dated  18 Dec 2012 )

*  An Android app which can be downloaded from Google Play / Android Zoom / GetJar and the official web site of Election Commission of India

*  It will be pre-loaded on 220 million Aakash tablets  which Govt of India plans to distribute to students

*  It will also be pre-loaded on those Smart phones ( to be called, “ Dharati “ ? ), which Govt of India plans to distribute free to 400 million “ poor “ Indians , before 2014 National elections

*  All tablet / smart phone manufacturers will be encouraged to pre-load VotesApp

*  Using this app , a voter can register at Election Commission web site, where he will enter the same data which he has submitted for his Aadhar card, including Aadhar card number (  Unique Identification No  )

*  All of these details will be verified by Aadhar database

*  Obviously , those who have not obtained their Aadhar card , will not be able to use VotesApp . They will need to visit nearest polling booth

*  Upon correct verification , Aadhar Database will permanently link the person’s Aadhar number with the mobile number from which  registration is done, and issue a Password

*  An under aged person will not be allowed to register

*  A person will be able to vote only from that mobile number

*  After login on first screen, user will be asked to select one option from,

    *   Panchayat  Election

    *   Municipal  Election

    *   State Assembly  Election

    *   Lok-Sabha  Election

*  Upon selection, user will be presented with the list of candidates contesting , from which , he can select only one by ticking a check-box. 

  

    There will be also a choice , labeled “ None “ ( NOTA )

*  A long press on a candidate’s name will display details of his declared assets as also his criminal record

*  After ticking / selecting a candidate, voter will click on  “ VOTE “ button, whereupon his vote gets registered and VotesApp gets de-activated

*  Once a voter registers on Election Commission web site , he cannot go to a polling booth and vote physically

*  In less than one year , Govt of India will recover the cost of 220 million Aakash tablets and 400 million” Dharati “ smart phones , through this customized / personalized / shrinking of EVMs ( Electronic Voting Machines ) to a hand-held device.

    And imagine the millions of man-hours saved !

*  And the beauty is , no one can capture this booth , or conduct exit polls !

   What will “ experts “ discuss on TV channels ?

*  What next ? Election Commission “licensing “ this App to other countries ?

HOW  WILL  IT  HELP  ?

*  No need for 930,000  Polling Booths / EVMs / Ink / Papers etc

    Every voter's own mobile becomes a miniature EVM  !

    Any registered Voter can vote from anywhere in the World  !

*  Nor any need to deploy  1,100,000  people to conduct the polls

*  No need for millions of Police / Military personnel

*  No need for months of advance preparations, across entire country

*  Voting can be completed in just ONE day - instead of over 6 weeks -
    and results can be declared next day  !

*  Voting could be 95 % or more  !

*  No worry for booth-capture

*  No  bogus voting ( Bio-metric ID from built-in camera )

*  No duplicate voting ( Self-destruct after single usage )

*  No worry for any terrorist attacks

*  Enormous saving of time for Voters

*  No need to declare a public holiday - costing thousands of crores
     worth of production

*  Central Government will save, at least , Rs 2,000 Crores .

*     For the Central Government , a potential  to earn Rs 20,000 crores , by

       enabling 15 million Indian businesses to advertise to 814 million voters

       thru this mobile VotesApp , sharply targeting by Gender / Age / Marital

       Status / City / Street / Education / Income Tax paid / Employed or

       Jobless ..etc

       

*   No need for Central Government to stop taking even routine decisions 

    ( due to Model Code of Conduct )

If a tiny country like Estonia ( population 1.6 million ) can elect its Members of Parliament thru a VotesApp type mobile App , why can't we  ?

Already 900+ million Indians have mobiles - all of which , will soon become Smart Phones

As far as designing / developing of  VotesApp  is concerned , it is NOT a Rocket Science

Any IT / E-Comm Start Up , should be able to develop  VotesApp  in 3 months

Can you think of a better way for " E-delivery of Service " ?

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07  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs