To put to good use their first-hand experience in conducting ‘free and fair’ elections in some of the toughest states, two former Chief Election Commissioners, J M Lygndoh and T S Krishnamurthy, along with two of their former colleagues, K J Rao and S K Mehendiratta, have come together to form a non-governmental organisation which will help monitor election procedures within and outside the country.

Participating in The Indian Express Idea Exchange programme today, Rao said, “We have come together to form a foundation that could independently monitor election procedures and train personnel for conduct of elections in the country and outside.”

Registered last month, the Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections (FAME) has a number of retired Election Commission officials from Delhi as well as state electoral offices, making it the first team of election professionals in the country.

“We have already received very good response from inside the country and a number of international bodies,” Rao said.

FAME will have Lyngdoh as president, Krishnamurthy as vice-president, Mehendiratta and Rao as director and general secretary respectively. The organisation sees a role for itself in helping people become part of a more effective democracy.

While Rao and Mehendiratta have been an integral part of the transformation of the Election Commission into a dynamic institution of international reputation which has managed to finetune the method of conducting clean and violence-free polls, Lyngdoh was largely responsible for delivering the first rigging-free elections and the tough post-riot Gujarat elections.

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