Lok Sabha elections: Govt direct recruiting agencies to release selection lists of various posts before MCC

• With the Model Code of Conduct likely to come into force by the first week of March for the Lok Sabha elections, the state government has directed all the recruiting agencies to release the list of various posts by the end of the current month.

•             Top sources in the state administration told KNS that the SSRB, PSC and other recruiting agencies have been directed to release the selection lists of various posts before the MCC come into effect. “There are posts for which examinations were conducted last year and we expect their selection lists are released in the current month,” an official of the government, said.

•                 The MCC is expected to come into effect by the first week of next month. These days, the Governor administration has been making transfers of top bureaucrats.

•            The government on Tuesday made transfers of deputy commissioners and other top officers. “Likely there will be a transfer of various other officers in coming days. The Chief Secretary has already given a green signal for transfer of top bureaucrats,” the sources said.

•            It is to mention here that the government recently ordered transfers of four senior IAS officers and appointed new secretaries in the home and finance departments. Last week the government already made transfers of various SSPs.

•           Meanwhile, sources said that the government has also decided to shift the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) from the crowded Old Secretariat to comparatively freer Government Printing Press premises here. A building in Old Secretariat, Srinagar, presently houses the CEO’s office.

•            However, due to the lack of space, the office has to be dependent on other departments’ buildings, especially when it comes to storing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

           “The Chief Electoral Officer has raised the issue with the government that the current location was not suitable to hold the process for the upcoming polls,” an official at CEO said.

Following which the government has initiated a process to find a “suitable” location for the poll body, the official said.

          “We can conduct and monitor the polls in a better way and hold meetings with concerned authorities if we have adequate space available,” he added.

•           A government document shows that the authorities have found the Government Printing Press, Srinagar “feasible” for CEO’s office.

          As per documents, around 15 kanals of land and a number of structures, which can be used to store the poll inventory, are available at the erstwhile Government Press at Lal Chowk.

•           The Election Commission of India team is also expected to visit the state soon to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, the government has also issued an advisory to political parties for holding of election rallies.