State Govt. staff sidelined

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 19. The Election Commission of India is taking the strongest of measures the State has ever seen to ensure free and fair polling next month.

The Commission has directed the State Election Department that State Government employees should be kept out of polling duty as far as possible. This is apparently in view of complaints about high political polarisation of the civil service in the State.

In place of State Government employees, the services of Central Government staff, employees of Central and State public undertakings, including banks, would be used for the conduct of the poll.

Besides, Central police forces will be deployed to maintain law and order in the State. The commission has also issued a directive that the State police force were not to be preferred for election duty.

As directed by the Commission, the Chief Secretary, Mr. V. Krishnamoorthy, the Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. P. J. Thomas, and the Director General of Police, Dr. P. R. Chandran, are sending daily reports to the Commission on the law and order situation in the State.

Early this week, the Commission had insisted on transfer of police officials who were serving in their home districts or who have been continuing in a post for more than four years. The Government reluctantly agreed to effect the transfers at the last minute.

The Commission now has powers to supervise, control and discipline the staff who are posted for election duty. The Chief Election Commissioner, Mr. M. S. Gill, told presspersons during his recent visit to the State that the Commission would be watching the functioning of senior officials in the State. The officials had been asked to strictly focus their attention on the directives of the Commission and nothing else.

The Commission has now sought the services of the Central Government staff and staff from outside the State Government services. The State Election Department has sought staff lists from various Central Government offices, banks and other public sector undertakings (PSUs), especially in Thiruvananthapuram, for posting to polling booths. The instructions are that Central Government employees should be preferred to employees of PSUs, and PSU employees to State Government employees.

Though some institutions like the Reserve Bank of India approached the Chief Secretary with the request that their staff should be exempted from poll duty, this has been turned down. (However, exemptions may be given to some telecommunication and other staff who are required to man essential services.) The staff would be posted as presiding officers, polling officers and polling assistants on the basis of salaries drawn by them.

The Commission is taking strong measures this time in view of the continuing violence in Kannur district and some other pockets in the State and reports of many instances of impersonation and several cases of ballot box stuffing in the past in districts such as Kannur and Alappuzha.

This time the risk of ``stuffing'' is high as electronic voting machines are to be employed for polling. With official complicity, votes can easily be cast on the machine, if there is no polling agent from the other side to prevent that. Hence, the stringent measures.

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Section  : Southern States
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