The State Election Commission (SEC) censured senior IAS officers Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and M. Girija Sankar (Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Panchayat Raj Department) for dereliction of duty.
In a letter to Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das, Commissioner N. Ramesh Kumar stated that the two top officials of Panchayat Raj Department were responsible for the SEC's compulsion to conduct the Gram Panchayat elections on the basis of 2019 electoral rolls, having allegedly failed in their duty to prepare the latest voter lists (dated January 1, 2021).
As a consequence, Mr. Ramesh Kumar said nearly 3.60 lakh youth who attained 18 years on the above date would be losing their fundamental right to vote, and that the censure shall form a part of service records of Mr. Dwivedi and Mr. Sankar as they did not measure up to the task of discharging the responsibilities cast on their office.
