NEW DELHI, Dec 19 - The process for the Assembly elections in Assam and four other states has been set in motion with the Election Commission of India issuing a set of transfer and posting rules regarding poll officials to the state governments.
The poll panel, in its first advisory to the states, has directed that all government officers directly connected with the conduct of elections are not posted in their home districts, that they have not completed three years in their respective districts during the last four years or would be completing three years on or before May 31, that the officers against whom the Commission had recommended disciplinary action in the past and which is pending or which has resulted in a penalty or the officers who have been charged for any lapse in any elections or election related work in the past may not be assigned any election related duty.
Further, any officer, due to retire in six months, shall not be associated with any election related duty, that the officers posted on recommendation of the Commission during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections may be exempted from the transfer policy.
The term of existing legislative assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry are due to expire soon.
To ensure free and fair elections, the Commission has been following consistent policy to the effect that officers directly connected with the conduct of elections in an election-bound state are not posted in their home districts or places where they have served for considerably long period. Keeping this in view, a detailed transfer and posting instructions were issued, it said.
