Village and Ward secretariat staff only to apply ink on the finger- Shock to AP governmnet

he Central Election Commission has given clear instructions on the role of village and ward secretariat staff in the general elections. It has been clarified that only other non-priority tasks (OPO duties) should be entrusted to them in addition to the duties that put ink on the fingers of the voters. It was directed not to entrust any important election work to them. The secretariat staff was prevented from interfering in the vital activities in the booths on the polling day. The Central Election Commission has written a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena stating that there is no objection to the recruitment of village and ward secretariat staff for election duties.

To this extent, Meena issued a memo with instructions to the District Collectors and officials stating that they have no objection to appoint the eligible village and ward secretariat employees for election duties. It has been suggested that in the upcoming elections, eligible village and ward secretariat employees can be assigned duties as polling parties. One eligible employee can be appointed in each polling party. The EC said that the village and ward secretariat staff who acted as BLOs should not be taken as polling parties. It suggested that orders should be given to them on the day of polling to assign them duties other than election duties. The Central Election Commission has once again made it clear that village and ward volunteers should not be entrusted with election related duties under any circumstances. It also decided not to allow volunteers as polling agents for the candidates.