Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India and current Chairman, Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA), Sushil Chandra, accompanied by Election Commissioners Rajeev Kumar and A C Pandey, on August 11, 2021, inaugurated the 11th Annual meeting of for the year 2021.
The meeting in Virtual mode was hosted by the Election Commission of Bhutan. Along with India, delegations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka participated at the day-long meeting.
CEC Sushil Chandra, as the outgoing Chair of FEMBoSA, virtually handed over the Chairmanship of FEMBoSA to Dasho Sonam Topgay, Chief Election Commissioner of Bhutan, at today’s meeting. On behalf of Election Commission of Bhutan, Major General Vetsop Namgyel, Ambassador of Bhutan to India, accepted FEMBoSA Logo from Chandra for Election Commission of Bhutan assuming the role of new Chair of FEMBoSA 2021-22.
In his address, CEC Chandra stated that FEMBoSA represents a very large part of the democratic world and is an active regional cooperation association of Election Management Bodies. Its logo with golden pearls stands for the eternal values of transparency, impartiality, democracy, and cooperation. He shared India’s experience of conducting Assembly elections in Bihar in November 2020 and Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry in March/April 2021 during the tough, testing times of COVID 19 pandemic. according to a PIB release.
Chandra noted that technological advancements and its impact on election management is of critical importance for all of us. Technology has been extensively used to make elections more participative, accessible, and transparent, he added.
The theme of today’s meeting was ‘Use of Technology in Elections’. Chandra mentioned that keeping pace with the rapid strides of Technology, the ECI has digitised many processes. Technology driven processes became all the more important in view of Covid 19 situation by helping minimise person-to-person contact. He reiterated ECI’s commitment to ensure that the ideals and objectives enshrined in FEMBoSA Charter shall be carried further.