The Election Commission of India is a Constitutional body . India is the largest democracy in the world . ECI controls and conducts the election . Constitutionally the ECI has powers for the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process of elections for Parliamentary, Assembly and election to the offices of the President and the Vice President of India . The head office of the Election Commission of India is Nirvachan Sadan at Ashoka Rd, Pandit Pant Marg Area , Sansad Marg Area, New Delhi. The Election Commission of India operates under the powers granted by the article 324 of the Constitution of India and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act in India . Every Indian citizen having 18 years of age can be an elector . The ECI issues EPIC or voter cards to them . At present the total number of electors in India are almost 96.8 crores. Presently the election is conducted through the EVM or Electronic Voting Machine in Parliamentary and Legislative Assembly elections. Now VVPAT is also used for more authentic and advanced election procedures . The Commission was established on 25th January , 1950 . Originally the commission had only one Chief Election Commissioner . The First Chief Election Commissioner of India was Sukumar Sen . He was in office from 21st March 1950 to 19th December 1958 . Presently The ECI has one Chief Election Commissioner and two additional Election Commissioners .The decision making power is governed by the majority of vote . The President of India appoints them . The tenure of the Commissioners are six years but upto the age of 65 years which is earlier . They enjoy the same status, salary and perks as the Judges of the Supreme Court of India . Presently the Chief Election Commissioner of India is Shri Rajiv Kumar and other two Election Commissioners are Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu . The Commission has a separate Secretariat at New Delhi . Five or six Deputy Election Commissioners and Director Generals assist them . Directors, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries, Under Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries support the Deputy Election Commissioners and Director Generals . The functional and territorial works are distributed and every last mentioned unit is in charge of a Section Officer . The main functional divisions are – Administration, Electoral Roll, Election Expenditure Management , Information Systems, International Cooperation, Judicial, Media, Planning, Political Parties, Secretariat Co-operation, Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation ( SVEEP ) . The territorial works are distributed among separate units in different zones of constituent States and Union Territories . At State level the Chief Electoral Officer of the State supervises the procedure and is appointed by the Election Commission of India amongst senior civil servants from a panel of officers proposed by the State Government . At district and constituency level the District Election Officers , Election Registration Officers, Returning Officers with the assistance of a large number of functionaries perform the election work . The local bodies elections like Panchayat and Corporations or Municipality Elections are conducted by the State Election Commission. The Secretariat of the ECI has an independent budget . Every Political Parties needed to be registered under the Election Commission of India . The Commission publishes and announces dates and schedule of elections and the Commission issues Model Code of Conduct also . The nomination, scrutiny, approval or rejection of individual candidates are supervised by the Commission . The Commission also has advisory jurisdiction in the matter of post election disqualification of a sitting member of Parliament and State Legislature . Even High courts and the Supreme Court also ask for the advice of the Commission for the purpose of disqualification of a candidate . The commission has the power to disqualify a candidate who has failed to lodge an account of his or her election expenses within the time and in the manner prescribed by the law . The Commission has also a power to remove or reduce the period of such disqualification as also other disqualifications under the law . The election to the Parliament and Legislature can be challenged by a petitioner in High courts and Supreme Court and petition against the election to the office of the President and Vice President can only be filed before the Supreme Court . The Commission also has a specific media policy . The Commission regularly organises Voters’ Education programmes .
A . Read the passage and answer the questions below – 1×4=4
1 . In which year the Election Commission of India was established?
2. Who was the first Election Commissioner of India ?
3. What is the tenure of the Election Commissioners in India ?
4. Who appoints the Election Commissioners in India ?
B. Write the answers in short – 2×5= 10
1 . How is the Chief Electoral Officer of a state appointed ? .
2 . How are the Election Commissioners of India appointed ?
3. Where is the head office of the Election Commission of India ?
4. What are elections directly conducted by the Election Commission of India?
5. Write about the advisory jurisdiction power of the Election Commission of India.
C. Fill in the blanks with information from the text – 1× 4=4
1 . The EPIC card is issued by ———————————————————–.
2. At present the total number of approximate voters in India are ———————————-.
3. Minimum age to become a voter in India is —————————.
4. The local bodies elections are conducted by —————————————.
D. Give a suitable title to the passage and provide suitable reason for choosing the title . 2
Writing Skills –
1 . Write a short essay on the Election Commission of India. 10
2. Write a dialogue between friends about the functions of the Election Commission
of India. 10
3. Write a short note on the formation of the Election Commission of India. 5
4. Write a summary based on the above passage. 10
