India is a huge country in every term of the word. Just have a look at these numbers, and you will get a sense of the mind numbing responsibility of the Election Commission to hold free and fair elections.
- A population of 1.2 billion people is spread over 28 states and 7 Union Territories. That is an area of approximately 2.97 million square kms.
- Of this population, approximately 720 million people are eligible to vote for the Elections of 2009! It is an increase of about 45 million from the last polls.
- Polling to be done in 828,804 polling stations/booths across the country (One polling station in Gir, Gujarat is scheduled to cater to only one voter, who is priest in a temple in the middle of the National Lion Sanctuary!).
- The election exercise to be overseen by more than 5 million civilian officials and 2 million security personnel.
- The elections to be held in 5 phases from April 16 to May 13, 2009. Results will be declared on May 16, 2009.
- Elections to be held for all the 543 parliamentary constituencies. In other words, 543 MPs are to be elected.
- Total official budget for the Elections 2009: Rs 1120 crores (US $ 225 millions). The actual expenditure by the parties and candidates is likely to be many times the official figure. Some "experts" estimate the total, actual figure to be around Rs. 10,000 Crores ($ 2 billion)
- Electronic voting machines (EVM) to be used for the entire exercise. A total of 1.36 million such machines likely to be used.
It is a great exercise for the largest democracy in the world. No wonder Indian economy has got a boost with the spending on elections.
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