Maha Guv praises FAQs on elections published by MSEC

Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao today complimented the Maharashtra State Election Commission for becoming the first State Election Commission country-wide to bring out exhaustive publications on Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to elections to local autonomous bodies in the state.
The publications are timely and would be found handy by candidates contesting elections and other stakeholders in the election process, he said.
The Governor was speaking after releasing a set of four volumes brought out by the State Election Commission on 'Frequently Asked Questions' pertaining to elections to local autonomous bodies in Maharashtra, at Raj Bhavan.
The four volumes offer answers to questions commonly asked by candidates contesting elections to Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and Village Panchayats.

The volumes also address the questions asked by political parties, regional level officers,
employees, voters and other stakeholders.

The Governor asked the State Election Commission to circulate the volumes at the district level and to organize meetings at local level so as to generate awareness among the people about the election process ahead of the elections to Gram Panchayats and Municipal Corporations.
The Governor said the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution that led to the establishment of the State Election Commissions in the country were very important instruments for the empowerment of panchayat raj institutions.
Expressing the need for transferring more powers to local bodies, the Governor said it was necessary to make local bodies self-reliant in order to achieve the goal of effective governance.

State Election Commissioner J S Sahariya said the 73rd and 74th Amendments restored the rightful place to local bodies in democracy. He informed the Governor that Maharashtra has largest number of local self government institutions in the country, with 26 Municipal Corporations, 220 Municipal Councils, 351 Panchayat Samitis and 28000 Gram Panchayats.
He complimented Shrikar Pardeshi, now Deputy Secretary in the PMO, and officials of the Commission for bringing out the four publications.