18 officials warned for resisting election duty

: District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam has warned of stern action against officials resistant to perform election duty.

Eighteen officials were summoned and warned on Monday. The ultimatum comes in the wake of resistance on the part of some officials included in the list to report for duty and training.

Deputy Collector (Elections) S. Shanavas said that letters had been received from various Central and State government departments seeking to exempt their employees from the election duty. Exemption had been given to the eligible. However, resistance on part of employees from departments that are responsible for election duty could not be accepted.

Initially a list of 40,000 employees was prepared for the election, which was later pruned to less than 25,000 following requests from various departments to exempt employees. A further cut down was not possible.

Strict guidelines

The State Election Commission has laid down strict guidelines to regulate election expenditure.

Guidelines with regard to the amount that could be spent, the manner in which the expenditure statement should be filed and the date within which it should be done, and punishments for violations are mentioned.

Candidates in grama, block, and district panchayats are permitted to spend Rs. 10,000, Rs. 30,000, and Rs. 60,000 respectively while it is Rs. 60,000 for municipalities and corporations. This is the maximum that can be spent on campaigning by the candidates, their agents or any other person on their behalf from the date of nomination to the declaration of results.

The expenditure statement should be filed complete with vouchers, receipts, and bills should be filed within 30 days from the declaration of results.

The statement should be submitted in the prescribed form issued by the returning officer. The statement could be verified by anyone on payment of Rs. 5 while those depositing Rs. 25 would be issued the full or partial part of the statement.

Candidates are liable to produce the statement even before declaration of results at the direction of the district election officer or any other persons authorised by the State Election Commission.