Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, today, has assumed charge as the 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) , succeeding Navin. B.Chawla. Prior to this, Dr. S.Y. Quraishi has served as Election Commissioner for 4 years since 30th June, 2006. Belonging to 1971 batch of Haryana Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service, Dr. Quraishi served as Secretary in the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. During his long distinguished career spanning about 40 years, he held several key positions including Special Secretary in the Health Ministry, Director General of National AIDS Control Organisation and Director General, Doordarshan.

Listing out his priorities, Dr. Quraishi said “Enhancing Voters Participation and restricting the role of money power in elections are among the emerging challenges. These will receive due priority. We are already working systematically to achieve a perfect electoral roll at the earliest.”

He said that “we plans to institutionalize electoral training and exchange of experience at an international scale and quality. This would be backed by documentation of innovative electoral practices in order to strengthen election management not only in India but also across the world.”