The setting up of the proposed India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIIDEM), a pet project of the chief election commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi, has been put on the backburner by the government citing the need for clearances from union ministries. The Rs 57-crore project, deemed to come up in Dwarka in New Delhi has been stalled pending the approval of the union finance, legal affairs, and external affairs ministries.

The government was earlier scheduled to give the project its approval during Thursday’s cabinet meeting but the prime minister’s office (PMO) said that sanction can only be given after the cabinet ministries has independently cleared the project. The project is now in limbo, at least until April.

PMO, in its direction to the cabinet secretariat, asked on Tuesday that the election commission (EC) get the necessary clearances from the finance ministry with regards to the expenditure projections. The circulated cabinet note on IIIDEM did not have comments from the ministry.

The government also sought a clearance from the external affairs ministry as the institute will be a training centre for election officials of foreign nations.

Sources privy to the drafting of the cabinet note say that though the PMO had given its in-principle approval, it wanted to move with caution given the recent tussle between the legal affairs ministry and the EC. IIIDEM is caught in the bog of government caution because the PMO wants to steer clear of the likely controversy over the chief of proposed body — whether it will be a retired chief election commissioner or a nominee of the legal affairs ministry.

CEC Quraishi is slated to demit office on July 10, 2012 and is believed to have wanted to get government sanction for the project before his superannuation.

IIIDEM has been planned to serve as an advanced resource centre of learning, research, training and extension of participatory democracy and election management.

An initiative of the EC, the institute currently operates from Nirvachan Bhavan in New Delhi. But plans are afoot to develop it as a world-class facility on a sprawling 5-acre campus.

Once built, the campus will have the state of art training and conference facilities, library, hostel and resource centres, says an expression of interest floated on Thursday inviting architects to suggest designs.