Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar has directed the district Collectors to make necessary arrangements for peaceful conduct of the ensuing elections to municipalities and municipal corporations.
The officials should complete the arrangements as per the time line and be prepared for holding the polls as per the schedule fixed by the State Election Commission. He wanted the Collectors to focus on every aspect, including allotment of staff, printing of ballot papers and procurement of ballot boxes for the elections being held in highest number of ULBs.
Mr. Somesh Kumar conducted a video conference with Collectors and other senior officials to review the election preparedness at the field-level on Wednesday. He was particular that the Collectors of Ranga Reddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Mancherial, Sangareddy and Nalgonda districts be extra cautious owing to high number of ULBs under their purview that are going to polls.
The focus should be equally on the new municipalities that are going to polls. The Collectors were advised to prepare a calendar of activities for each day and they were directed to deal carefully with the rejected nominations. The Collectors have a crucial role in the conduct of the elections and they should therefore involve themselves fully in the process, he said.
Municipal Administration Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar said the Collectors should be in close liaison with the municipal commissioners in all the stages of the polls. The district Collectors should set up monitoring systems in their respective areas and send reports to the State Election Commission on a regular basis about the activities undertaken by them.
The officers drafted for poll duties should not be allowed to go on leave and the department would not tolerate unauthorised absence of any of these officers.
