ECI directs Telangana CEO to release seized cash unrelated to electoral process
The ECI emphasized that such funds should be released as soon as they receive clearance from district grievance committees to minimize inconvenience to the public, a release said on Monday.
Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana, Vikas Raj, and other senior officials responsible for overseeing the State Assembly elections, to promptly release cash that has been seized and is unrelated to the electoral process.
The ECI emphasized that such funds should be released as soon as they receive clearance from district grievance committees to minimize inconvenience to the public, a release said on Monday.
In a recent update, the ECI took note of the progress made in preparations for the Telangana State Assembly elections scheduled for November 30, 2023. It instructed the state’s election machinery to ensure all aspects of the electoral process are thoroughly addressed, given that the nomination process is about to commence.
During a video conference from New Delhi, Nitesh Kumar Vyas, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, and Pankaj Srivastava, Director (Expenditure) of ECI, interacted directly with all District Election Officers (DEOs), Superintendents of Police (SPs), and Commissioners of Police (CPs) in Telangana.
Key officials including Shri Mahesh Bhagawath IPS, State Expenditure Monitoring Nodal Officer, and Shri Sanjay Kumar Jain IPS, State Police Nodal Officer, provided insights into various measures taken in this regard. DEOs and SPs from Nalgonda, Bhadradri, Jangaon, Warangal, Khammam, GHMC, and other areas participated in the conference.
Lokesh Kumar, Additional CEO, presented a comprehensive overview of the preparations, covering aspects such as security arrangements, facilities for polling staff, grievance redressal mechanisms, the establishment of an integrated control room, strict enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), promotion of c-Vigil, identification of vulnerable areas for future deployment of forces, formation of MCMC, virtual campaigning, affidavit uploads, and secure storage arrangements.
Sarfaraz Ahmad, Joint CEO, provided details on the status of electoral rolls, the preparation of ASD lists, steps taken for the creation of marked copies of Electoral Rolls (ER), the preparation, distribution, and monitoring of Voter Information Slips, and voter guide information.
Deputy CEO Smt. Satyavani reported that all DEOs and ROs had been informed about the number of recognized and unrecognized political parties, the list of Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs), common symbols allocated to RUPPs, approved free symbols, and arrangements for online nominations in ENCORE.
She also discussed the strategy for printing and distributing postal ballot papers, along with instructions provided to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Returning Officers (ROs) regarding Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots (ETPBs) and postal ballots for absentee voters in categories such as AVSC, AVPD, AVCO, and AVES.
