ITANAGAR, 17 Nov: State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rinchin Tashi on Monday outlined the crucial roles of the observers to be deployed during the forthcoming municipal and panchayati elections across the state.
In total, 27 observers for the panchayat elections in each district and two for municipality polls have been appointed.
Tashi said that senior-level officers from IAS, IFS and APCS admin grade and above have been appointed as general observers to assist the commission in conducting free and fair polls.
Presiding over a briefing session for the general election observers to be deployed during the municipal and panchayat elections at DK Convention Centre here, Tashi said that “for all purposes, observers are the eyes and ears of the commission during election period.”
He said that the observers are to provide direct inputs from the field “as an interface with the election machinery,” and that the candidates and electors are to ensure that the Acts, rules, procedures, instructions, and guidelines related to elections are strictly and impartially complied by all concerned.
The observers were also requested to exercise diligence in their executive roles of monitoring the process of nomination filing, scrutiny, symbol allotment and withdrawal, effective monitoring of the model code of conduct (MCC), enforcement of the Arunachal Pradesh Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, checking of election expenditure accounts of the candidates, and reviewing of randomisation of polling personnel.
State Election Commission Secretary Taru Talo requested the observers to adhere to all the instructions and guidelines issued by the commission from time to time and promptly furnish all the reports at the commission’s email ID “or through any other quickest means of communication.”
Nodal officer Lobsang Tsering delivered a presentation on the rules for observers, the MCC, and the dos and don’ts to be observed during the election period.
