Shimla: To complete the election process in a free, fair, smooth and transparent manner, elaborate arrangements have been made, Manisha Nanda, Chief Electoral Officer, said.
No official would be allowed to perform election duty in his home station or home constituency. Training regarding computerized randomization of polling personnel is being imparted to all the concerned persons, she added.
To abide by the norms laid out, the Election Commission has ordered the transfer of 91 police Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors. These officials had either completed 3 years of posting in one place or were serving in their home district.
An election department spokesman disclosed that that of the police officials transferred 3 belonged to district Bilaspur, 22 from Shimla, 7 from Kullu, 10 from Solan, 7 from Una, 6 from Mandi, 8 from Sirmour, 9 from Chamba, 16 from Kangra, 2 from Kinnaur and 1 from Hamirpur.
Meanwhile gearing down to holding a poll, even as winter is catching up in some of the highest polling stations in the country, the election commission has dispatched election material to the three assembly segments that go to the polls in the first phase.
Nanda said that it is being ensured that all the election related material could reach in the district headquarters well in time, where it will be further distributed to the polling parties as per the polling programme.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071017/himplus1.htm#10
In the name of Constitutional duty
Election duty of government servants, targeting teachers, is back once again. Not liked by the teachers, manipulations will soon start to escape from it. This makes the people at the civil magistrate office more privileged, to oblige the known and show the power to others.
The seniority-based protocol is thrown into the dustbin and many juniors in the administration dictate the worst affected community. A long queue for receiving and submitting different packets of election material at various places brings out the mismanagement. After the completion of election duty, queuing for relieving orders from the SDM clerk is a humiliating experience.
There are no arrangements for stay in the field and they are left at the mercy of people. In some areas, people on duty who belong to lower castes, have to face socio-psychological problems too.
I have gone through such experiences several times. Helpless people are terrorised in the name of Constitutional duty. These issues need to be addressed properly by the state election commission to avoid any negative impact on the motivation level of people performing this sensitive duty.
Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Shimla
Thanks for bringing this issue to limelight.
Surely tall claims are made but implementation of norms often do get violated.
Hope somebody in authority notices.
We try and engage the system by putting out such information in the public domain