The President Mrs. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil has strongly advocated removal of the impediments for greater participation of people in the democratic exercise. She said, malpractices in the electoral processes will have to be dealt with determination to make the democracy cleaner, healthier and stronger.<br/><br/>Addressing the inaugural function of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission, Mrs Patil called for more modernisation of electoral process to increase its transparency. She urged the political parties and the participants in the election process to follow the model code of conduct to cleanse the electoral process. The President also released a commemorative stamp on the occasion.<br/><br/>The Vice President Mohd. Hamid Ansari while talking about the challenges urged the Election Commission to take concrete measures to deal with the issues like paid news and surrogate adds. He later released a Book titled "Reinforcing Indian Democracy in Lok Sabha Elections-2009".<br/><br/>Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh expressed hope that the solutions to the problems confronting to cleanse the electoral process will be found soon. Dr Singh said this would improve the quality of the democracy. Identifying the problems, the Prime Minister expressed concern that politics is not attracting the best and the brightest an educated professionals and middle class often shy away from participation in the electoral process.<br/><br/>Hailing the role of election commission, he said technological developments including the use of electronic voting machines have contributed in making the election process transparent and speedy and enhanced its credibility as well.<br/><br/>The Speaker Mrs. Meira Kumar, UPA Chairperson Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Mrs. Sushma Swaraj were also present on the occasion. Earlier, the Chief Election Commissioner Mr. Navin Chawla identified the challenges of the Commission and the objectives of organising the year-long Diamond Jubilee Celebrations. Several envoys of foreign countries, representatives of different countries and Electoral Bodies were present at the inaugural function.