Who gets the top job?

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) may have sought clarity on a Rs 57-crore project of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi to establish the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIDEM) at Dwarka in New Delhi. But Union Budget 2012-13 has a budgetary provision for the same. Around Rs 29.19 crore has been allotted for its construction, the land for which was purchased from the Delhi Development Authority in FY12, the Budget says.

The establishment of IIDEM was on the agenda of the March 1 meeting of the Union Cabinet. But the PMO wanted views of Union ministries of finance, external affairs and law. Expenditure incurred above Rs 10 crore is to be cleared and approved by an expenditure committee. This clearance was not reflected in the Cabinet note. The proposal was, therefore, held in abeyance. The PMO has agreed to establish IIDEM in principle, but would like to know whether this institute would be headed by a former CEC or by a legal affairs minister.

Quraishi retires on July 10, after he turns 65. He has designed this project and wanted to get the approval before his tenure ends. Obviously, the project will take some years to roll out. But who will head it once it is rolled out is still an open question. IIDEM is envisaged as an advanced resource centre of learning, research, training and extension of participatory democracy and election management. The institute currently operates from its headquarters, Nirvachan Bhawan. But the plan is to develop a world-class facility on a five-acre plot acquired in the socio-cultural centre at Sector 13, Dwarka.

“Once completed, the institute will have a campus with the state of the art training and conference facilities, a library, a hostel and resource centres,” says an Expression of Interest tender inviting architects to suggest its design.