The committee formed under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind on ‘One Country One Election’ has submitted its report to the President.
In this report of 18626 pages, it has been said to conduct Lok Sabha, Assembly and local body elections simultaneously and prepare a single voter list.
At the same time, the poll panel of the Election Commission has clearly told the high level committee that if the assembly and Lok Sabha elections are held together, then an additional expenditure of Rs 8 thousand crore will be incurred.
This expenditure will be incurred only in the purchase of EVM and VVPAT machines.
The committee formed for One Nation One Election held talks with stakeholders for 161 days. In the same sequence, a letter was also written to the Election Commission on 20th February and views were sought.
The Election Commission has also informed Kovind’s committee about the need for funds. The Election Commission had also told the same thing to the Law Commission on 17 March 2023. No changes have been made in this.
The Election Commission has also said that the items, EVMs or employees that have been discussed do not include local body elections.
The State Election Commission is responsible for conducting Municipal Corporation and Panchayat elections. The Election Commission said that to change the electoral process, major changes will be required in the entire system.
In March 2023, the Election Commission had said that there is a need to increase the voting booths also. There were 10.38 lakh polling booths in 2019 which should be increased to 11.93 lakh by 2024. Due to increase in polling booths, more employees, EVMs and VVPATs will also be required.
The number of central forces personnel will also have to be increased. There will be a need to increase the number of security forces by at least 50 percent. However, if assembly and Lok Sabha elections are held simultaneously, this number will increase further.
The Election Commission had told that the two companies making EVMs, BEL and ECIL, also need time. It is estimated that around 53.57 lakh ballot units and 38.67 lakh control units and 41.65 lakh VVPATs will be required. This is going to cost around Rs 8 thousand crores.