The Special Expenditure Observers will be supervising and monitoring the work being done by the electoral machinery and ensure that stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken based on intelligence inputs and complaints received through C-VIGIL and Voter Helpline 1950 against all persons/entities trying to induce voters by distributing cash, liquor & freebies etc. in order to vitiate the poll process.
Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed TWO well-known former Civil Servants Gopal Mukherjee and D.D. Goel as Special Expenditure Observers for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections.
While former IRS officer and former Member of CBDT Gopal Mukherjee has been deployed in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and D.D.Goel ex-IRS (1982), former DGIT been deployed in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
The ECI in a press release said, both these officers have extensive knowledge of search and seizure operations conducted by the I.T Department.
What’s the role of the special observers?
The Special Observers will be supervising and monitoring the work being done by the electoral machinery and ensure that stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken based on intelligence inputs and complaints received through C-VIGIL and Voter Helpline 1950 against all persons/entities trying to induce voters by distributing cash, liquor & freebies etc. in order to vitiate the poll process.
Further, the ECI has decided to give additional charge of Gujarat and Karnataka to Shailendra Handa and Madhu Mahajan, respectively.
It may be recalled that Commission had appointed these officers as Special Expenditure Observers on 19th March 2019.
Handa would thus be Special Expenditure Observer for Maharashtra and Gujarat while Mahajan will be deployed in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The ECI has also appointed K K Sharma (IPS 1982 Retd DG Border Security Force) as Special Central Police Observer for the States of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
ECI further appointed Mrinal Kanti Das (IPS 1977 Retd DGP Manipur) as Special Central Police Observer for States of Tripura and Mizoram.
These Observers would oversee the deployment and other security related issues in the said States.
