Neeraj Rohmetra
Jammu, Feb 27: With stage set for implementation of Code of conduct, within days to come in view of forthcoming Parliamentary elections, the State electoral Department is fully geared up and the entire electoral paraphernalia has been put in place to ensure free, fair and transparent polls in the State. Besides, top officials of different security agencies have also worked out the broad contours of the strategy to counter any possible threat to the electoral process in the State.
Confirming this to EXCELSIOR, Chief Electoral Officer, Umang Narula and Director General of Police, Ashok Prasad in separate conversation stated that all electoral arrangements had been put in place for smooth conduct of Parliamentary polls in the State.
Elaborating over the strict guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for preventing misuse of black-money, Mr Narula said, “this year, there is lot of emphasis on scrutinising the expenses involved in the entire electoral exercise and an Election Expenditure Monitoring Mechanism (EEMM) will be put in place across the State. Special Expenditure observers shall also be appointed for this purpose and Surveillance teams, flying squads have been constituted in each Assembly constituency to monitor the expenditure levels in these elections”.
“As soon as the Code of conduct is in place after the announcement of schedule for Parliamentary polls by the ECI, the Department would also seek compliance report from the State Government for the guidelines issued earlier for ensuring transparent and accountable polls. Most of the Departments have already conducted a reshuffle of their officials in tune with these directions of ECI”.
“The electoral rolls of the State have been revised, which is a pre-requisite for holding of Parliamentary elections. Nearly 1000 officials had been sensitised about the electoral process in Jammu and Srinagar respectively”, he said adding, “we have also done the first level of checking for the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which are to be utilised at different polling boths”.
“There will be around 9600 polling booths across the State and after discussions with security officials; they have been classified as sensitive or hypersensitive. The number of critical polling booth is more or less the same as they were in the last Parliamentary polls. As per the guidelines of ECI, we have also done videography of the existing polling booths to ensure that they are equipped with basic facilities for the electorate”, he said emphatically.
Referring to the security requirements for smooth conduct of polls, he said, “the Law and order situation had been reviewed with top security officials of the State and a multi-fold strategy has been put in place to counter any step to disrupt the electoral process”.
Referring to the feature of NOTA (None Of The Above), the Chief Electoral official remarked that like the rest of country, the electorate of the State would for the first time exercise this unique feature and option has been included in the EVM panel.
Another important feature, Mr Narula said, “for the benefit of the electorate, who despite having a Photo ID card don’t find mention in the Voter list, the Department shall issue voter slips so that they can exercise their franchise. The voter slip shall mention the polling booth and other details about the electorate”.
“Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) program will be launched in all districts of the State from March 1 and field programmes would be organised to ensure maximum participation”, he said adding, “our efforts are aimed to boost the polling percentage across the State”.
To address the needs of polling booth located in far-flung areas, Mr Narula said, “a Connectivity Plan is being put in place as this is a major issue in several areas of the State. Arrangement is being made to ensure that the polling officials are in constant touch with the authorities, while the polling process is on”.
Director General of Police, Ashok Prasad, when contacted about the preparedness of the security agencies for ensure smooth conduct of Parliamentary polls said, “the entire security arrangements have been put in place for smooth conduct of elections and the electorate can exercise their franchise without any fear”.
“Withstanding all odds, we had successfully conducted Panchayat elections in the State after almost a decade. This time again, a well-coordinated strategy has been put in place to counter all threats to Parliamentary polls”, he asserted.
Over the possibility of militant trying to disrupt the poll process, Mr Prasad said, “the issue has also been discussed in details with the official of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and we have also projected our requirements based on our past experiences. Even at State level, we had held several rounds of deliberations and things have been worked out to counter any threat to the electorate”.
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