SSR, Lok Sabha poll preparations reviewed

GUWAHATI: A team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) consisting of senior officers held the third one-day regional conference-review meeting with the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) and State Police Nodal Officers (SPNOs) of nine states in Guwahati.

The previous two sessions were held in Chandigarh and Chennai on October 31 and November 9, 2023, respectively, covering altogether 16 states and union territories.

The ECI team consisted of Senior Deputy Election Commissioners Dharmendra Sharma and Nitesh Kumar Vyas, Deputy Election Commissioner Hirdesh Kumar, Director General Dr. Neeta Verma, and directors Pankaj Srivastava and Deepali Masirkar.

Chief Electoral Offi-cers (CE OS) and State Police Nodal Officers of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and West Bengal gave detailed presentations about the progress of the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SSR) and planning and preparations for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election in 2024.

Regarding preparations for the general election to Lok Sabha 2024, the ECI team was apprised of the law-and-order situation, voter enrolment efforts, Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) at polling stations, the state of other polling infrastructure, and also about manpower requirements and availability.

The ECI team directed all CEOs to ensure the preparation of a healthy and inclusive electoral roll during SSR, in particular by ensuring stakeholder participation (including from political parties) and improving various roll

indices, enrolment of all first-time eligible voters, removal of dead and duplicate voters, and special focus on enrolment of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), transgender, sex workers, SC/ST, PwD, 80+, and other identified vulnerable groups. Apart from this, plans to increase voter turnout through Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programmes, maximizing use of the various IT applications, election expenditure management, training, and capacity building of various polling officials were also discussed in the review meeting.

The SPNOs were specifically advised to take initiatives well ahead of time and act upon them on a priority basis to ensure inducement-free and safe polls. CEOs and SPNOs were impressed to take all possible measures for the forthcoming general election to ensure peaceful, participatory, and inclusive elections, a press release said.

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