In view of the announcement of the date for General Elections to the Lok Sabha 2024, the District Election Officer, Baramulla, Minga Sherpa, chaired a comprehensive meeting of officers at Dak Bunglow here to review the preparations for the smooth conduct of elections in the district. He held detailed discussions with regard to the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), material management plan, vulnerability mapping, facilities at polling stations, resource availability and manpower, logistics, transport plan, communication plan, SVEEP, training of the polling staff, EVM management, and other key aspects.
During the meeting, the DEO directed the concerned AROs to remove all campaign material, logos, manifestos, etc. of the political parties from the government and private buildings 24 hours prior to the implementation of MCC. Meanwhile, Minga Sherpa instructed the District Informatics Officer, who is also the nodal officer for IT and use of technology, to arrange comprehensive training sessions for all the AROs and nodal officers regarding the use of C-Vigil, Encore, and other monitoring apps run under the supervision of the Election Commission of India.
Regarding the SVEEP initiative, the DEO directed the AROs to continue with the voter awareness programmes across the district and run comprehensive drives in the polling stations where participation was minimal in the previous elections. Additionally, the DEO directed the concerned nodal officer to provide extensive training to the staff of the control room for monitoring purposes as per the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India.
Minga Sherpa emphasised to the officers the crucial importance of comprehending their assigned roles and cultivating seamless coordination among themselves to ensure the successful execution of the election process. The meeting was attended by the Additional District Development Commissioner, Syed Qamar Sajad; Additional Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Zahoor Ahmad Raina; Deputy District Election Officer, all the nodal officers, and the AROs responsible for the conduct of elections in the district.