In a significant move to ensure fair electoral practices, the Election Commission of India (EC) has issued a new directive aimed at tightening the transfer policy of district officials ahead of elections. The EC’s latest instruction, issued on Saturday, mandates that officers who have been posted in a district for more than three years and are subsequently transferred to an adjacent district within the same parliamentary constituency, in an attempt to merely show compliance with the EC’s pre-election transfer policy, must now be relocated to a different parliamentary constituency altogether.
This directive comes as a response to the practice of token compliance, where officers are moved within the same parliamentary area to meet the EC’s transfer requirements superficially. The new rule is designed to prevent any potential bias or influence that such officers might exert in the electoral process, thereby ensuring a more level playing field.
However, the EC has provided an exemption for states and Union Territories (UTs) that consist of no more than two parliamentary seats, acknowledging the logistical challenges that stricter transfer policies might pose in these regions.
The EC’s standard policy, which is enforced in the lead-up to both Lok Sabha and assembly elections, stipulates that all officers either stationed in their home district or who have completed a three-year tenure at a location must be transferred. This policy is applicable to officers involved in election-related work, whether directly or in a supervisory role, to uphold the integrity and impartiality of the electoral process.
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