Delhi Police personnel on election duty have been provided a useful guide and reference book by the department to equip and inform them better about what constitutes a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and the role they are required to play.
The force had got published 15,000 copies of the 56-page booklet called “Election Expenditure Monitoring Handbook for Field Staff” and distributed it to personnel in all districts. The book suggests a plethora of measures to identify violations and crack down on them.
As many as 41 methods by which candidates may try to woo voters are enlisted. Of this, the interesting ones include sending cash in envelopes with the newspapers or inside milk pouches. The personnel are also advised to remain vigilant against distribution of money in the garb of religious functions and money transfers through real-time gross settlement schemes.
The handbook has been written in both English and Hindi. A senior officer said this was done to ensure that personnel are able to overcome the linguistic barrier and get the message. The various legal provisions concerning violations and the ensuing penalties have been dealt with in detail.
It also gives guidelines to police officers on taking action in such incidents and gives details on methods of bribing voters and spells out the Assembly constituencies that are vulnerable to distribution of money and liquor.
The instructions are basically a condensed form of the guidelines issued by the Election Commission but, the officer said, since the volume of all those guidelines was huge, a summarised version was needed.
“What is the use of this material if it does not reach our ground staff. The information should trickle down effectively. So we have compiled those documents given to us by the Election Commission in this handbook. Many a times, the lower constabulary does not know the minute details regarding elections and so when an incident happens they don’t know what to do. The handbook also provides details on what action should be taken,” said the officer.
The handbook has listed some of the modes of the transportation of cash as inside ambulance vans, in the bonnet of a car, in police vans and helicopters. It has also named about 25 places in East Delhi that are vulnerable to the distribution of liquor and cash to voters.
