No Officers On Election Duty To Be Posted In Home District: EC

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) has directed chief secretaries of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, where the term of existing Lok Sabha and state assemblies will be ending soon, to ensure that officers directly connected with conduct of elections are not posted in their home districts or places where they have served for considerably long period.

The term of Odisha assembly will end on June 1.

According to the letter, no officer connected directly with elections shall be
allowed to continue in the present district of posting:
(i) if she/he is posted in her/his home district.
(ii) if she/he has completed three years in that district during last four (4) years or would
be completing 3 years on or before May 31, 2019.

1. The departments concerned of the state government have been asked to take care that the officers are not posted in their home districts.

2. These instructions not only cover officers appointed for specific election duties like DEOs, Dy. DEOs, RO/AROs, EROs/AEROs, officers appointed as nodal officers of any specific election work but also district officers like ADMs, SDMs, deputy collector/joint collector, tehsildar, block development officers or any other officer of equal rank directly deployed for election work.

3. It is also applicable to police department officers such as Range IGs, DIGS, Commandants of State Armed Police, SSPs, SPs, Addl. SPs, Sub-Divisional Head of Police, SHOs, Inspectors, Sub-Inspector, RIS / Sergeant Majors or equivalent ranks, who are
responsible for security arrangement or deployment of police forces in the district at election time.

4. The police officers, who are posted in functional departments like computerization,
special branch, training, are exempted. These instructions also do not apply to the officers posted in the state headquarters of the department concerned.

5. The officers appointed as Sector Officer/Zonal Magistrate involved in election duties
are not covered under these instructions. However, the observers, CEO/DEOs and ROS have been asked to keep a close watch on their conduct to ensure that they are fair and non-partisan in the performance of their duties.

6. Officers/officials against whom the Commission had recommended disciplinary action in past and which is pending or which has resulted in a penalty or the officers who have been charged for any lapse in any election or election related work in the past, are not to be assigned any election-related duty.

7. No officer/official, against whom a criminal case is pending in any court of law, be associated with/deployed on election-related duty.

8. The transfer orders in respect of officers/officials, who are engaged in the electoral rolls
revision work, if any, during an election year shall be implemented only after final
publication of the electoral rolls, in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer
concerned. In case of any need for transfer due to any extra ordinary reasons, prior
approval of the Commission shall be taken.

9. Any officer, who is due to retire within the coming six months will be exempted from
the purview of the Commission’s directions.

10. Officials of the State (except those posted in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer), who are on extension of service or re-employed in different capacities, will not be associated with any election-related work.