Political pundits with scholarship as well as field experience aver that democracy is the best form of Government we human societies can cherish for. The attraction is that it represents the majority opinion. That may be the case but there is more than what meets the eye. Are the people educated enough to understand what democracy means or implies? Does political leadership have programme of educating people about their duties to the State? Are the people sensitized to national interests and concerns? These questions do arise and have to be answered by those who want democratic dispensation to succeed in this country.
Leaving this academic debate aside, it should be understood clearly that democracy is an expensive and time consuming exercise. It is a big burden on State exchequer and cannot be avoided in any case. If figures are of any interest, let the readers be informed that in our first Parliamentary election held in 1952, the total expenditure according to the statistics provided by the Government, were mere 10.45 crore rupees. It increased manifold over the years. About Rs 846.66 crore were spent during last general elections in 2009, according to data released by the Government. The current Parliamentary election is estimated to cost the exchequer around 5000 crore rupees.
The formula for expenditures to be incurred on Lok Sabha elections and State Legislative Assemblies is like this. The entire expenditure on actual conduct of elections to Lok Sabha is borne by the Government of India. Expenditure on the conduct of election to State Legislature is to be borne by the respective State Government when such elections are held independently.
If concurrent election to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly is held then such expenditure is shared between Central and respective State Governments. A total of Rs 10.45 crore was spent on country’s first election in 1952 and it was borne by the Central Government. India will spend over Rs 5,000 crore in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, with around Rs 10 crore estimated to be spent on each constituency on an average, as per the Election Commission estimates. Conduct of Assembly elections in four States — Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh– will cost the exchequer about Rs 1,000 crore.
These figures show that in future the expenditures on Parliamentary/State Legislative Assemblies will go on escalating. This is indeed a big burden on the State exchequer but there is no escape. We cannot give up democratic process in any way. But it should be possible for the Government and the Election Commission of India to devise means and methods of reducing this huge expenditure. Perhaps when the entire system is digitalized and made most modern as is the case in western countries, we might be able to reduce the expenditure to considerable limits. Another issue linked to it is the expenditures incurred by the parties and individuals who are in the fray of electioneering. Of course, at present, there is a sealing on the upper limit of the expenditure incurred by a party or an individual candidate but in actuality the money they are expending is much more than what they declare. How can this be controlled is a big question. At the same time circulation of black money during election campaigning has also been a ticklish question and the Election Commission alone cannot solve this difficult question. These days news is coming in regularly of police parties seizing huge unaccounted amounts being carried in cars and jeeps from one place to another without mentioning the nature of this money. Obviously, it is meant to be spent on electioneering and its various aspects by the candidates or their parties. What precisely has been the purpose of people carrying huge amounts of money is not known to us clearly. There are only guesses and premises which are not dependable in any case. We have seen that money power is a factor in our Parliamentary or Legislative Assembly elections.
This is why we say that democracy is a white elephant. It consumes enormous monies. As such it is important that the Election Commission and the Government of India both sit down to discuss how the expenditures on Parliamentary elections could be reduced, whole undertaking this massive exercise.
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