ECI To Announce Schedule For Polls in Assam, WB, TN, Puducherry, Kerala In March
The ECI will be deploying 1,444 officers, including 714 general observers, 233 Police Observers and 497 Expenditure Observers in these state
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday briefed central observers to be deployed for forthcoming Assembly Elections in five states. The ECI is expected to announce the schedule of elections for Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in March.
The ECI will be deploying 1,444 officers, including 714 general observers, 233 Police Observers and 497 Expenditure Observers in these states. Briefing the observers ahead of the polls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said they should ensure free, fair and transparent elections and that their presence will energise the entire election machinery across 824 constituencies where elections are going to be held.
Election Commissioner Dr. Vivek Joshi instructed that Voter Information Slips (VIS) should be distributed well in time to the voters so that they are not inconvenienced on poll day. The Commission also interacted with the observers in a doubt-clearing session and senior officials of the ECI briefed the observers on various aspects of preparation of Electoral Rolls and the Conduct of Elections in the five poll-bound States/UTs.
The observers were also briefed on the IT applications and platforms, and media related matters. As the Commission’s `eyes and ears’, the central observers were asked to familiarise themselves with all the election laws, rules, guidelines and ensure their strict and impartial compliance The observers were instructed to remain fully accessible to political parties, candidates, and the grievances of voters are redressed in a timely manner. They were also instructed to visit polling stations and ensure the implementation of the recent initiatives taken by the Commission for the convenience of the voters, especially ensuring the provision of Assured Minimum Facilities (AMFs) .
