Stories
Economists Back One Nation One Election Before JPC
- •Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran and other renowned economists appeared before a Joint Parliamentary Committee to support simultaneous elections.
- •Economists argued that frequent elections divert fiscal allocation toward revenue expenditure instead of capital expenditure and cause policy paralysis.
- •Chartered accountant S Gurumurthy highlighted that continuous polls inflict severe costs, strain administrative resources, and impact federal structures.
- •Panel Chairman P P Chaudhary noted that frequent election duties severely disrupt education as a massive percentage of teachers are deployed for polls.
- •Journalists also shared divided opinions with some supporting reform while others emphasized that continuous elections ensure regular government accountability.
Key Questions Answered
Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, EAC-PM Chairman S Mahendra Dev, and chartered accountant S Gurumurthy appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee and strongly supported simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, assemblies, and local bodies.
Gurumurthy noted that continuous elections inflict severe costs like global market uncertainty, policy paralysis during the Model Code of Conduct, administrative strain, constant campaign demands, and the replacement of voluntary cadres with paid workers and vote-buying.
Committee Chairman P P Chaudhary stated that about 85 percent of teachers are deployed for election duties across various levels of polls, resulting in significant losses for government school students who are unable to complete their syllabi.
