HYDERABAD, NOV 6 : Special Observers Ajay V Naik, IAS (retd), Deepak Mishra IPS (retd), and R. Bala Krishnan, IRS (retd), appointed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Monday, addressed a special session with State Police Nodal Officers (SPNOs) and Nodal Officers for commercial tax and excise.

The session was arranged by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) at his office, and they provided specific guidelines to be followed diligently by all concerned.

Vikas Raj, CEO, along with his senior officials, presented the arrangements made so far to the visiting observers, a release said.

In terms of law and order, the special observers made the following recommendations:

Police personnel deployed for polling station duty should be randomized before deployment to ensure they are posted in areas outside their own police stations. SPNOs should create a list of Do’s and Don’ts for police personnel on duty at polling stations.

Training should be provided to all video surveillance teams on video recording political events with cameras, not mobile phones.

Regarding the electoral roll, the special observers clarified:

All pending Form VI applications should be processed and disposed of by November 10, 2023.

All complaints about the electoral roll received in every district should be recorded, along with the complainant’s phone number and details of resolution. Observers should review these registers and randomly verify the disposal of complaints by calling the complainants.

Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) should ensure that all candidates and their election agents download the C-Vigil App on their mobile phones. Steps must be taken to advertise the C-Vigil App in state-level newspapers in both English and the local language.

The observers emphasized that District Electoral Officers (DEOs) and Commissioner of Police/Superintendent of Police (CP/SP) should jointly prepare a list of polling station locations where external videography is required. The footage from these CCTV cameras should be available in the Police Control Room.

For the final day of polling, they recommended that district and state officials should arrange for continuous monitoring of media channels. In case of negative news coverage, the Nodal Officer must promptly gather factual details about the event and communicate them to the media outlets, requesting them to broadcast the official version.

Ajay Badoo, Deputy Election Commissioner from the Election Commission of India (ECI) in New Delhi, instructed all enforcement officials to perform their duties to the best of their abilities to ensure high-quality work.

He, along with Pankaj Srivastav, Director (Expenditure), and B.R. Balkrishnan, IRS (retd), Special Expenditure Observer, addressed senior enforcement officials involved in election duties at the CEO’s office this afternoon.(UNI)