Conducting Elections in the World's Largest Plural Society

Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series
Dr. S. Y. Quraishi
Chief Election Commissioner of India
Reception – 5:00 to 5:30 p.m.
Foyer of The McNeil Center for Early American Studies (MCEAS)
University of Pennsylvania
3355 Woodland Walk
(at 34th & Walnut Streets)
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Lecture – 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
The Stephanie Grauman Wolf Room at MCEAS

About the Speaker:

Dr. S. Y. Quraishi assumed charge as the 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India on July 30, 2010, having previously held the position of Election Commissioner since June 30, 2006. He has been already involved, as part of the three-member Commission, with control, direction and superintendence of the conduct of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President of India, General Elections to the Lok Sabha – 2009, besides elections in a large number of states. In the management of elections, Dr. Quraishi has brought a special focus on people’s participation, voters’ education and youth involvement in the electoral process through scientific research and interventions. He has been an ardent proponent for lending strength to the grassroots level election functionaries.

Dr. Quraishi is known for his special contributions in social sector reforms covering health, education, population, drug abuse, and civil society action. He has done extensive work in the fields of Gender, Women & Child Development, HIV/AIDS, Youth and Adolescent issues. Educated at St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, Dr. Quraishi has a number of books, articles, and talks to his credit. His book, titled Social Marketing for Social Change has broken new ground in the field of Development Communication.

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The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.