BANDIPORA, JANUARY 16: Deputy Commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary on Wednesday chaired a meeting to review the preparation of District Election Management Plan (DEMP).
The meeting was attended by Superintendent of Police Sheikh Zulfikar Azad, Additional Deputy Commissioner Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Assistant Commissioner Revenue Reyaz Ahmad Beigh, Deputy Election Officer Rafiq Ahmad Lone and other senior officers of the district,
The meeting discussed threadbare election management action plan for forthcoming elections in the State, while the DC obtained feedback from the nodal officers regarding steps initiated and their requirements for smooth conduct of elections.
The issues that prominently figured and were discussed included functioning of district contact centers (DCCs), creation of necessary infrastructure for polling stations, status of polling stations, facilities of webcasting in the polling stations, requirement and movement of EVMs, progress under SVEEP program, communication plan, transport facilities for polling parties, security management, imparting of training to the polling staff, District Profile, Manpower Management, Polling staff welfare, Material Management Plan, Accommodation, Modal Code of Conduct, Statutory Orders Plan, Expenditure monitoring Observers’ Facility Plan, Directory of officers and several other allied issues, related to the election process.
Dr Choudhary stressed on the district officials to maintain close coordination so that a comprehensive working plan is devised for smooth conduct of the forthcoming elections. He laid stress on capacity building of field polling staff, better manpower Management, comprehensive classification of zones, sectors and corresponding poll staff plan, better connectivity, appointment of nodal officers and work distribution, Security, vulnerability assessment and dedicated communication network to facilitate citizens with their election related queries and complaints.
Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner also inaugurated the Voter Awareness Forums (VAFs) for Lok Sabha Elections 2019. He said the idea of constituting these forums is to spread awareness about voting and electoral process among all government and private officials.
It was given out that Booth Awareness Groups will be constituted as part of the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme in the district while the National Voters Day 2019 on January 25 being celebrated nationwide for promoting electoral participation, will be observed at all offices in the district.
Meanwhile the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Mohammad Younis Malik, today launched Voter Awareness Forum (VAF) under SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education & Electoral Participation).
He said that Voter Awareness Forum (VAF) is an informal forum for generating discussions and awareness about the electoral process, on the how, what and where of registration and voting, through the medium of real-time activities. The DDC also said that due to the efforts of various agencies related with election process, 28000 new entries have been recorded. He emphasised upon the functionaries to know in detail about the Voter Awareness Forum (VAF).
The Nodal Officer SVEEP, & DEPO, Fayaz Ahmad through a Power Point Presentation highlighted the importance of the VAFs. He said that Education Department has been organising SVEEP awareness programmes in the district from last 02 years to sensitise the people about the power of vote.
ADDC, ADCs, DPO, District Dy. Election Officer, Anantnag and other sectoral & Zonal Officers of various departments were present on the occasion.
