New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) For a cleaner and healthier democracy, India needs to remove “impediments, lacunae and malpractices” in the electoral process and be the democratic role model for other countries, President Pratibha Patil said Monday.
The president in her address at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission of India said the country had “impressive democratic credentials, but yet has the challenge of becoming a role model for other countries”.

“This requires that we should be aware of the impediments, the lacunae and malpractices in the electoral process. These would have to be removed with determination, to make our democracy cleaner, healthier and stronger,” she said.

She said the people’s representatives must adhere to values, spirit and principles of the Constitution.

“Democracy adorns our Constitution. We have to see that the power of voting vested in the people makes them powerful enough to change their own destiny through democracy and therefore, the importance of making democracy fully participatory,” she said.

Patil expressed hope that democracy would be taken deeper to the grassroots to involve people in governance.

“Through the Panchayati Raj institutions and local urban bodies, we have sought to deepen the reach of democracy. Their role and responsibility for executing programmes and schemes, particularly social and welfare schemes must increase,” she said.

The poll panel has chosen the theme “greater participation for a stronger democracy” for its diamond jubilee year and the president hoped that discussions under the rubric of this theme would be fruitful.