Asserting that the paid news menace has not gripped Jammu & Kashmir, the election managing authorities on Thursday said they are geared up to monitor newspapers and television channels to curb misuse of media by the political parties and candidates.
They said that during the recent Parliamentary polls, six instances of paid news were probed in Jammu region and notices were served to candidates involved in planting the favourable news items against payments.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu & Kashmir, Umang Narula, revealed this at a media seminar.
He said that Returning Officers in every district have been asked to monitor media to check paid news. He said that preparations for the upcoming elections are in top gear.
On registration of Kashmiri Pandit migrant voters, he said that an additional location at Chandigarh has been added for filing registration papers apart from previous three locations of Udhampur, Jammu and Delhi.
“Chandigarh has been added as an additional spot after applications and suggestions were received by the Election Commission from migrant voters,” Narula said. He clarified that the verification of application forms would be done as per the previous procedures.
He said the verification norms for the migrant voters would be strictly followed. “There will be no compromise on the verification process. The migrant voters are verified through Relief Commissioner’s office,” he said.
