CS directs officials of all departments to implement Model Code of Conduct strictly

Hyderabad: Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari today asked the officials of various departments to effectively implement the Model Code of Conduct in the wake of the Lok Sabha elections.

A high-level meeting was held at the Secretariat on the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct. Senior officers of Police, Excise, Commercial Taxes, Forest, Revenue, Transport and other departments participated in the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, the CS asked the officials to work more efficiently in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with the same spirit as they did in the recently held Legislative Assembly elections. Officials informed that in addition to setting up special check posts on the border States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, effective surveillance has been stepped up in coordination with the check-posts of the neighbouring States.

Special control rooms have been set up by all major departments for the conduct of elections and the implementation of the Code of Conduct. Check posts have been set up by various departments in the State. Of these, there are 444 check-posts by the Police department and nine inter-state check-posts. So far, Rs 10 crore in cash has been seized by the Police department and unlicensed weapons, explosives, gelatin sticks and gold have also been seized. 15 check-posts and 52 enforcement teams have been set up by the Transport department. These check-posts will work round-the-clock.

During the inspections carried out by the Transport department teams, Rs 34.31 lakh was seized. Sixteen inter-State check-posts have been set up by the Commercial Taxes Department and special monitoring was being done at 31 strategic points. Additionally, 25 godowns where there is a possibility to distribute freebies to entice the voters have been identified and special vigilance has been kept on them.

141 manufacturing godowns and 912 trading godowns have also been kept under surveillance. Similarly, 21 inter-State check-posts and six mobile check posts have been set up by the Excise Department and eight districts where there is a possibility of illicit liquor manufacturing have been identified.

Five railway lines where there is a possibility of illegal transportation of liquor have been identified and special measures have been taken to prevent them. So far, Rs. 50 lakhs worth of liquor has been seized. Likewise, special vigil has been kept on all the distilleries in the State and CCTVs have been installed to monitor the supply of liquor through the distilleries.

The CS directed the Command-and-Control Center of the Police Department in Hyderabad to monitor the transportation of liquor through CCTVs. 65 check-posts have also been set up by the Forest Department, of which 18 are inter-State check-posts. She said all the government departments are working in coordination to strictly implement the Code of Conduct of elections in the State.

DGP Ravi Gupta, Special Chief Secretary Excise and CT Sunil Sharma, PCCF Dobriyal, Principal Secretary, Home Department Jitender, Additional DG S.K. Jain, Transport Secretary Srinivasa Raju, Commercial Taxes Commissioner T.K. Sridevi, Excise Department Commissioner Sridhar, Information & Public Relations Special Commissioner Hanumantha Rao and others participated.