* Expresses strong displeasure over some State Governments not following the cut-off date scrupulously
Staff Reporter
The administrative activities ahead of Lok Sabha election are gaining
momentum. Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked the State
Government to transfer the officers who have completed their three-year
tenure in a district or those serving in home district, by February 15.
K Ajaya Kumar, Principal Secretary, ECI, has sent a letter in this
regard to Chief Secretaries as well as Chief Electoral Officers of all
the States and Union Territories. Ahead of general election to Lok
Sabha, the ECI follows a policy wherein officers connected with the
conduct of elections in States do not serve in their home districts or
places where they have served for long. No officer connected with
elections, directly or indirectly, should be allowed to continue in the
present district of posting if it is his/her home district or if he/she
has completed three years in a district during last four years.
The directions have triggered an exercise in the administration here to
identify the officers who have completed three years in a district or
who will complete three years before May 31, 2014. This time, ECI has
asked the State Governments to take action as per the directions by
February 15. “It has been observed that the cut-off date prescribed by
the Commission has not been scrupulously followed by some State
Governments. The Commission has, therefore, stressed that all the State
Governments should strictly follow the cut-off date prescribed for
calculating three year period,” K Ajaya Kumar has warned in his
communication.
Though most of the senior officers have been covered, the police
officials who are posted in departments like computerisation, special
branch, training etc are not covered under these instructions. While
calculating the period of three years, promotion to a post within the
district is also to be counted. According to sources, at least 10
officers in district administration are eligible for transfers. Besides,
at higher level, Divisional Commissioner B Venugopal Reddy has
completed his term of three years. As per ECI directions, some of the
top officers may be shifted next month.
Apart from transfers, ECI has made it clear as to which officers should
not be engaged in election or election-related work. The
officers/officials against whom ECI has recommended disciplinary action
or who have been charged for any lapse in election or election-related
work in the past, officers/officials against whom a criminal case is
pending in any court of law, will not be engaged in election or
election-related work.
‘Transferred officials should
leave the district physically’
Putting
on record its displeasure over transferred officers/officials
proceeding on leave and staying in the same district, the Election
Commission of India (ECI) has asked them to ‘move physically out of the
district from which they stand transferred immediately on receipt of
transfer orders.’ In its communication, the ECI stated that it had
received complaints about officials ‘trying to circumvent’ the objective
of transfers by proceeding on leave and physically not moving out of
the district from which they stood transferred. The Commission has
viewed it ‘seriously’ this time.
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