State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mona shrama has constituted at least six teams, the most important being the liquor squad, in order to ensure a free and fair election in the State.
As per the instruction of the Election Commission of India, CCTV would be installed in all the liquor shops across the State to monitor the stock and sale of liquor every day and the liquor squad would look into it, said Additional Chief Electoral Officer Hrudaya ballav Mishra. Mishra said Expenditure observation team, Flying squad, Static surveillance team, Video viewing team, Accounting team and liquor team have been constituted for the first time for smooth conduct of the election process.
Mishra said CCTVs have already been installed in many liquor shops and it would be installed in the rest of the shops soon. He said the liquor team with the Excise Commissioner as its nodal officer would supervise production, bottling, off-take and sale of liquor. The team would monitor movement of liquor too, he said. Similarly, he said Excise Superintendents would act as the nodal officers at the district level. The liquor shops whose off takes would be more than 50 per cent and sales more than 30 per cent on a day compared to the same day last would be brought under the radar of suspicion of the team.
The Election Commission has fixed a ceiling of Rs 70 lakh for a Parliamentary constituency and Rs 28 lakh for an Assembly constituency.