2017-01-25 Wed

“We the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular DEMOCRATIC Republic and to secure to all its citizens......”

By adopting the Constitution of India we have agreed to be a democracy. Being the seventh largest by area and second largest by population, the Republic of India is the largest democracy in the world. Democracy in modern usage is a form of self-government wherein the people of the nation govern directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. Democracy is sometimes referred to as "rule of the majority".

But why are we talking about democracy here? Well as defined above, democracy is a government where the ultimate power is in the hands of the people of the country, a form of governance where the government is “of the people, by the people, for the people”. And that’s where we the people fit in! By “electing” or “voting” for our representative or a candidate we execute our duty (role) in the functioning of the democracy or the governance of the nation.

According to political scientist Larry Diamond, democracy consists of four key elements. Out of which the first two explicitly draw out the role of a committee which chooses and replaces the government through free and fair elections and the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life!

In India, an Election Commission was established on 25th January 1950 as an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India. Since 2011, National Voter’s Day is annually celebrated on January 25th. This year we will be celebrating the 7Th National Voter’s Day.

The significance of this day is to encourage youngsters, who have reached the age of 18, to participate in the electoral process, by enrolling or registering themselves in electoral rolls and to exercise their franchise. This year the Election Commission of India (ECI) is going to hand over Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) to “future voters” in the age group of 15-17 years in addition to other events across all polling stations in the country where first-time voters of the area are invited to a function to collect their EPIC. President Pranab Mukherjee is also going to hand over awards for best electoral practices to over 20 government officers to mark the seventh National Voters Day.

On 25th January 2010, an INR 5 commemorative stamp along with an FDC was issued by India Post to celebrate the occasion of inauguration function of Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the Election Commission of India. Another commemorative stamp of 15 paise was issued in 1967 on the topic of General Elections in India.

This day is rightly called as the "festival of democracy”! Exercise your voting right in the next elections and be a proud voter!