Dimapur, Feb. 15 (EMN): The rush to instate a strong enforcement mechanism, and facilities of governance, and access and security for the electorate for the forthcoming Nagaland assembly elections is on. The Election Commission of India (EC) has offered updates about what the election establishment had been engaged in since the polls were announced.
The state’s election establishment issued a press release on Thur. offering updates about the EC’s observation and ground assessment during its visit to Nagaland.
‘(The Election) Commission is committed to maintain purity of elections and to deliver free, fair and transparent elections,’ the establishment stated in the press release. ‘The commission has directed the state level and district level election machinery to be fearless, unbiased, neutral and independent from any influence whatsoever.’
During the visit, the election commissioners met with representatives of political parties and noted their suggestions about how best to conduct free, fair, and peaceful elections, the election department stated.
According to the election department, representatives of political parties had requested that observers sent by the commission to be “more proactive and take suitable action on the complaints.”
“Political parties requested to take effective action to prevent poll related violence. They also wanted that the movement of armed cadres should be effectively restricted to prevent any attempt of intimidation of voters. Political parties demanded that malpractice and misuse of money be checked,” the updates stated.
The political parties are said to have demanded that steps be taken to prevent attempts to exert undue influence on voters by village councils in some areas.
Money, money, money & the conduct code
Further, political parties have demanded strict implementation of the MCC during the forthcoming elections, the press release stated. Some of the parties are stated to have informed about the use of “religious platforms to influence voters,” for which they have requested taking appropriate action.
Likewise, the parties “demanded” that “malpractice” and “misuse of money” be “checked,” the press release informed.
The commission was stated to have directed the state’s election machinery to ensure effective monitoring and vigilance. They were directed to comprehensively plan at all levels to address the concerns of political parties and instill confidence in the voters to enable them to exercise their franchise without fear, coercion, intimidation, or inducement.
Law and order: Security
The state’s administration and police have been asked to take steps to tone up the security and law and order environment and preventive steps be taken, the press release stated.
General and police observers have been deployed in the state to monitor all activities and advise the administration to take suitable action. The contact numbers of these observers have been made available to the public, the establishment stated.
Further, it was informed that central armed police forces (CAPF) had been deployed for confidence building measures. The EC has directed that CAPF vehicles must have proper signage and public address system.
The commission has been successfully utilizing Information Technology-based applications to ensure efficient and effective monitoring of the election processes and redress for public grievances.
Samadhan: Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System
A comprehensive, robust and reliable Public Grievance Redress System has been developed to provide a common platform for all complaints, grievances, concerns and suggestions lodged by any member of the public, including our various stakeholders like political parties, candidates, civil society groups etc. A citizen has the multi-modal facility to lodge any election-related complaint via bouquet of channels/sources like Website, Email, letter, fax, SMS, Call-centre (Call-center Number is ‘’1950’’) etc.
Single Window Permission System
A single window system has been instituted to giving election-related permissions and clearances within 24 hours. In this system, candidates and political parties can apply for permissions for meetings, rallies, vehicles, temporary election office, loudspeakers etc at a single location, where back-end convergence of various authorities / departments has been done.
Vehicle Management System
It is an IT-based Vehicle Management System with the facility of issuance of requisition letters for vehicles, capturing of vehicle details with address, mobile number and bank details of owner and driver, transfer of vehicles from one district to another district etc.
Further, the commission has emphasised on making the election process accessible to all sections of the electorate especially the persons with disabilities (PWD), the aged and the infirm etc. A data base of PWD voters has been created and such electors are enrolled and mapped with PS and the list has been provided to the BLOs for providing special assistance, the election department informed.
‘Special facilities to PwD voters like wheel chair to the extent possible, waiting area, queue assistance, ramps, and escort are to be provided. Braille ballot paper for easy readability by the visually impaired voters would be provided,’ the press release stated.
