District Electoral Officers in Punjab on Saturday were directed to get complaints from flying squads for prompt action against the Government officials who are indulging in electioneering. Presiding over a meeting of all DEOs through video conferencing, Punjab’s CEO VK Singh said his office has been receiving complaints regularly of many lower-level civil, police and excise officials who are indulging in electioneering, violating the Model Code of Conduct by misusing their position.
As the polling day in Punjab is approaching near, it becomes imperative to get these complaints enquired immediately, he said. No police official should be posted in his own Assembly constituency or jurisdiction of police station where he was posted during the election duty, Singh said.
The CEO has also asked the poll officials to ensure that all sensitive polling booths are covered either by paramilitary forces or micro-observers or webcasting. Singh also asked the DEOs to make the district level media certification and monitoring committees more proactive to check the menace of paid news.