In a bid to ensure free and fair elections, a District Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) has been constituted here by the District Election Officer and Collector Rupa Roshan Sahoo.
Sahoo said that the committee, which is to be headed by Additional District Magistrate Sushama Rani Devi, would monitor the political advertisements that are to be aired on TV channels and cable network during the electoral process. No political advertisements can be aired on TV channels or cable network without obtaining prior certificates from the nodal officer of the MCMC.
The committee will preview, scrutinise and verify all advertisements either given by contesting candidates or political parties before it is inserted in the electronic media. Besides, the MCMC will also keep tabs on paid news. The interested candidates or political parties must have to apply to the nodal officer of the MCMC in a prescribed form with all details regarding the advertisement they wanted to release, Sahoo added.
However, releasing information relating to voters, Sahoo said that all the voters are to be provided five basic minimum facilities, which include provision of room, shed, drinking water, toilets and ramps. Even though 927 polling booths will be set up in the district, reportedly the District Election Officer will have to instal temporary toilets at 108 polling booths and keep water tankers at 32 places on the day.
Significantly, Collector Sahoo has reiterated that 80 polling booths, at least 10 booths from each block, are to be treated as the model polling booths. Interestingly, in such polling booths the voters are either to be greeted with presentation of rose buds or coffee and cold drinks like invitees by the concerned officials. Such provisions will be introduced for the first time in Odisha to boost the voters. Moreover, Sahoo has informed that around 8,600 voters have been included in the voters list under a special drive conducted on March 9.