Srinagar: Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Mr. Farooq Ahmad Shah, who is also the District Election Officer Srinagar Thursday said Elections for the sixteenth house of people (Lok Sabha) have been announced by the Election Commission of India and the schedule of elections for Parliamentary Constituency No. 2 Srinagar has also been issued.
According to the reports received by KNS, Mr. Farooq said according to the schedule, the notification for filing the nominations of elections will be issued on April 2nd, last date of filing of nominations is April 9th, Scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 10th, the last date of withdrawal of candidature isApril 12th and the day of polling in Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency is April 30th. He said Model Code of Conduct has come into operation with immediate effect with the announcement of the parliamentary elections on the 5th of March, 2014.
He said that Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency consists of three districts – Srinagar, Ganderbal, and Budgam, comprising of fifteen assembly segments eight in district Srinagar, five in district Budgam and two in district Ganderbal.
He further said that Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency has a total of 1,546 polling stations, 804 in district Srinagar, 540 in district Budgam and 202 in district Ganderbal.
He said elaborate arrangements of staffing the various polling stations in district Srinagar have been made including deployment of personnel to man the polling stations besides Zonal and Sector Magistrates.
He said enrolment of eligible voters is still going on and the total number of EPIC cards issued in district Srinagar alone is 5, 23,352 which are approximately 93 percent of the registered eligible voters.
He also briefed that elaborate plan with respect to manpower management, transport management, security management, implementation of Model Code of Conduct, expenditure monitoring, and Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) has been charted out and put in place for systematic and hassle free, smooth conduct of the Parliamentary Elections.
Directing the officers related to the election process, District Election Officer said that it is the responsibility of every functionary to strictly adhere to the directions issued by the Election Commission of India, adding that the officers will implement the instructions in letter and spirit.
Pertinently first level training to all the employees of District Srinagar department-wise has been provided to Booth Level Officers, polling personnel, sector/zonal officers, expenditure monitoring cell, EVM preparation staff, besides security personnel and other staff who will ensure smooth, fair and impartial conduct of the parliamentary elections.
District Election Officer said that all BLOs of Srinagar shall be available at their respective polling stations from 9th of March 2014 during office hours so that the intending eligible persons can register themselves for obtaining EPIC cards. “A 24×7 Election Cell has been set up to coordinate the election related activities in the district. A dedicated 24×7 helpline on telephone number 2476145 has also been set up to address various queries and complaints, he added”. (KNS)