Kovind Committee not in hurry; budget for one year on anvil
First meeting of the Ram Nath Kovind Committee was held in New Delhi on September 23.
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, September 28: The Ram Nath Kovind Committee on ‘One Nation, One Election’ has begun holding meetings. The committee will soon be backed by own secretariat, with office space in the Jodhpur House. The Kovind Committee is also being provided with a budget to undertake study tours and other activities, with emerging suggestion that the report on holding simultaneous elections is not being desired by the government quickly.
“We have worked out a budget of Rs 11 crores for one year for the Kovind Committee. This will cover the cost of the office at Jodhpur House in New Delhi, as well as study tours that will be undertaken by the committee members to understand the idea of holding simultaneous elections,” said a top ranking source in the Central government.
The Kovind Committee also has Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah as its members, besides others, who recently met to chart out the initial course of the activities. The committee in its first decision has sought out suggestions from political parties on the idea of holding simultaneous elections in the country.
“The Kovind Committee members will be travelling countries which have functional simultaneous elections to gather first-hand inputs on the efficiency of the idea, as well as challenges faced by the election bodies. The committee members will also travel within India to reach out to the stakeholders across the spectrum consisting of political parties, academia, and others,” added the source.
It has also been learnt that the Kovind Committee has already begun receiving suggestions with groups and individuals sending their notes on the idea of holding simultaneous elections. “The committee will not work in a hurry to deliver a report as is being speculated in some quarters. The report, which will take considerable time to prepare, will be most exhaustive and offer definitive roadmap by incorporating all possible ideas, while also examining the arguments against the idea,” added the source.
The Venkatachaliah Commission Report, which was submitted to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2002, is also being parallel studied within the government, as well as other entities, said informed sources, who added that the Kovind Committee Report, when it comes, will be expansive in scope.
Informed sources said that the idea of holding simultaneous elections, if accepted at all, will not be thrust on the country hurriedly. The government had constituted the Kovind Committee a day after summoning the special session of parliament to trigger an intense speculation about the Modi’s plan to go for simultaneous elections in immediate future.
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