The representatives of political parties, academics, social activists, media and concerned citizens of the State met here on August 31 during a conference on PR electoral system for India, organised by Campaign for Electoral Reforms in India (CERI).
It was resolved that the present First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system being practised in India has not represented equal value for each vote. It excludes the losing voters from participating in governance.
As an alternative, a need for reforms in the current electoral system was felt by adopting Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system in India to ensure democracy through representation in seats/governance based on percentage of votes. It was proposed that mixed member PR system with 70 per cent of candidate from PR and 30 per cent from FPTP electoral system be adopted.
The conference also demanded that all the registered political parties must follow and adhere to inner party democracy and the Election Commission comes out with appropriate rules and regulations mandatory for maintaining internal party democracy.
Besides, along with existing reservation for SCs and STs, it demanded reservation for women in proportion to their population in the list of candidates under PR system.
It deeply acknowledged with tribute the contribution of MC Raj, founder of CERI, in taking forward the cause of PR in India through his research, writing, training and campaign activities all over the country.
In order to take forward the demand of PR ahead in Odisha, the conference decided to form a State committee with representation of all concerned, especially political parties, supporting it.