Ex-civil servants stress the importance of fair elections and institutional integrity

In an open statement, 102 signatories, including former civil servants unaffiliated with any political party, have emphasized the significance of fair elections and the integrity of institutions ahead of the final phase of the 2024 general elections.

Highlighting their commitment to the ideals of the Indian Constitution, they underscored the crucial role of India's working poor, farmers, women, and youth in demonstrating their faith in democracy.

"Elections are a particularly testing time for institutions that are constitutionally vested with the responsibility of ensuring the integrity and fairness of elections. These include the higher judiciary, the election commission, chief electoral officers in every state, and returning officers in every district," stated the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG) in their open statement.

"To retain the faith of the ordinary citizen in these constitutional institutions vested with the onerous responsibility of the free and fair conduct of elections, it is necessary that these institutions must not only be fair but also appear to be fair. They must reassure the citizens of the fairness and integrity of the process through their consistently transparent and accountable functioning, and by continuously sharing information with the electorate," the CCG added.

The CCG expressed their intention to remind authorities of their paramount duty to uphold the Constitution of India. "On behalf of the citizens of India, we seek in humility to remind each of the authorities and institutions charged with the integrity of the process of democratic government formation of their paramount duty to abide and uphold the Constitution of India. We would like to remind them of the oath they have taken in this regard at the time of their assumption of office," the statement added.

The open statement by the CCG on May 25, 2024, highlights the group's commitment to constitutional ideals.

They noted the significance of the final phase of the eighteenth general elections to the Parliament of India, the largest democratic exercise globally. The signatories acknowledged the dedication of India's working poor, farmers, women, and youth in reaffirming their faith in democracy by participating in the elections despite challenging conditions.

During this election period, concerns have arisen regarding the fairness of the process.

Issues include fears of tampering with EVM and VVPAT machines, unlawful voting by individuals on behalf of others, missing names from voters' lists, the Election Commission of India's refusal to disclose exact vote counts and insufficient action against hate speech targeting minorities, and opposition parties by senior leaders of the ruling party.

The CCG called for the Election Commission to address these issues transparently and promptly.

"It pains us to say that no Election Commission in the past has been as reluctant as the present one to discharge its duties, despite violations being repeatedly brought to its attention by responsible organizations and respected members of society. We hope they will not continue to show this disregard in the time that is remaining," the statement said.

The CCG emphasized the need for careful handling of EVM machines and prompt announcement of vote counts by returning officers. They also addressed the responsibilities of the President of India in the event of a hung parliament, expecting her to follow established democratic precedents and prevent horse trading.

"We bring forth the luminous pledge that India’s first citizen, the President of India, takes to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law’ and to devote herself ‘to the service and the well-being of the people of India’. We are sure that this will be her guiding light," the CCG concluded.

The statement was signed by 102 former civil servants, including:

- Anita Agnihotri, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI

- Anand Arni, RAS (Retd.), Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI

- Aruna Bagchee, IAS (Retd.), Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines, GoI

- Sandeep Bagchee, IAS (Retd.), Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra

- Vappala Balachandran, IPS (Retd.), Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI

- Gopalan Balagopal, IAS (Retd.), Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

- Chandrashekar Balakrishnan, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Coal, GoI

- Sushant Baliga, Engineering Services (Retd.), Former Additional Director General, Central PWD, GoI

- Rana Banerji, RAS (Retd.), Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI

- Sharad Behar, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh

- Aurobindo Behera, IAS (Retd.), Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha

- Nutan Guha Biswas, IAS (Retd.), Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of Delhi

- Meeran C Borwankar, IPS (Retd.), Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI

- Ravi Budhiraja, IAS (Retd.), Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI

- Sundar Burra, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra

- R. Chandramohan, IAS (Retd.), Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi

- Rachel Chatterjee, IAS (Retd.), Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh

- Ranjan Chatterjee, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Meghalaya & former Expert Member, National Green Tribunal

- Kalyani Chaudhuri, IAS (Retd.), Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

- Gurjit Singh Cheema, IAS (Retd.), Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab

- F.T.R. Colaso, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir

- Anna Dani, IAS (Retd.), Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra

- Vibha Puri Das, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI

- P.R. Dasgupta, IAS (Retd.), Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI

- Pradeep K. Deb, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI

- M.G. Devasahayam, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana

- Renu Sahni Dhar, IAS (Retd.), Former Principal Adviser to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh

- Sushil Dubey, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Sweden

- A.S. Dulat, IPS (Retd.), Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI

- K.P. Fabian, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Italy

- Prabhu Ghate, IAS (Retd.), Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoI

- Suresh K. Goel, IFS (Retd.), Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI

- S.K. Guha, IAS (Retd.), Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI

- H.S. Gujral, IFoS (Retd.), Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab

- Meena Gupta, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI

- Ravi Vira Gupta, IAS (Retd.), Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India

- Wajahat Habibullah, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner

- Sajjad Hassan, IAS (Retd.), Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur

- Naini Jeyaseelan, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI

- Najeeb Jung, IAS (Retd.), Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi

- Sanjay Kaul, IAS (Retd.), Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka

- Gita Kripalani, IRS (Retd.), Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoI

- Brijesh Kumar, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI

- Ish Kumar, IPS (Retd.), Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission

- Sudhir Kumar, IAS (Retd.), Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal

- Subodh Lal, IPoS (Resigned), Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI

- Sandip Madan, IAS (Resigned), Former Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission

- Harsh Mander, IAS (Retd.), Govt. of Madhya Pradesh

- Amitabh Mathur, IPS (Retd.), Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI

- Lalit Mathur, IAS (Retd.), Former Director General, National Institute of Rural Development, GoI

- Aditi Mehta, IAS (Retd.), Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan

- Shivshankar Menon, IFS (Retd.), Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser

- Sonalini Mirchandani, IFS (Resigned), GoI

- Malay Mishra, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Hungary

- Avinash Mohananey, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim

- Satya Narayan Mohanty, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission

- Sudhansu Mohanty, IDAS (Retd.), Former Financial Adviser (Defence Services), Ministry of Defence