Sir, it is a fact that what is the total expenditure of the government on establishment and salaries? Sir, it is a fact that there are more than 43 lakhs of people working in the government of India alone. Their salary bill, establishment charges, emoluments and other allowances amount to nearly 13,000 Crores of rupees. Members have taken part in the debate and have given valuable suggestions on the electoral reforms. The bill that is before the houses is only on one point, that is, countermanding of elections should not be there if an independent candidate dies. But taking this opportunity, almost all the members have expressed their views on the need for electoral reforms at an early date. As far as this bill is concerned, I don't think there will be any objection from any members. Even the hon. Members, who moved this statutory resolution, said if the government assures that it is going to bring in a comprehensive electoral reforms bill as early as possible, he has no objection to this. This ordinance had to be issued because of the experience in parliament and assembly elections in various states, particularly in the state of Punjab. During the last Punjab elections a number of candidates, particularly independent candidates, were killed and that has made the government think seriously what it should do. Elections in 13 parliamentary constituencies, including the ones in Punjab, were countermanded. Elections in 22 assembly constituencies in the whole country. Including nine in Punjab had to be countermanded. So, this high incidence of deaths had made the government think and come forward with an ordinance which will enable the elections to go on in spite of deaths of independent candidates. The effect of it, you have seen in Punjab.
