CEC moots for common electoral roll for country

Bhubaneswar, Nov 19 (UNI) Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalswami today mooted the idea of having a common electoral roll for the entire country.

Addressing the 8th All India State Election Commissioners' conference in the Raj Bhawan here, Mr Gopalswami said a common electoral roll should be prepared scientifically and seamlessly to make the election process flawless.

He said such a system would help the state governments use the electoral roll for holding the panchayat and urban bodies elections more smoothly.

The CEC urged the state governments to provide more functional and financial autonomy to the State Election Commission to conduct the election more effectively.

Orissa Governor M C Bhandare underscored the need for a model electoral law for conducting panchayat and urban bodies elections in the states.

He also stressed on a uniform service condition for the State Election Commission in the country.

SECs from 18 states were participating in the one-day conference, which discussed among other things the report, presented by the Standing Committee on the State Election Commission, chaired by Rajsthan SEC Indrajit Khanna.

UNI