A monitoring committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Kannur District Collector T.V. Subhash, who is also the District Electoral Officer, to look into poll code violations and resolve grievances expeditiously.
The Panchayat Deputy Director is the convener of the five-member committee. The members are the District Police Chief, Deputy Collector of Elections, and the District Information Officer.
Resolving doubts
The functions of the monitoring cell are to examine and resolve doubts and complaints received from candidates, party representatives, the public, and officials, take action against violators of the code of conduct, and to send a report to the Election Commission. The committee will meet every two days.
The Collector said that no graffiti, posters, banners, or cut-outs shall be placed at government offices and their premises.
He said that promotional materials should not be placed in a manner that causes inconvenience to the public. Expenditure of campaigns will be included in the candidate’s election expenses.
Parties or candidates should not distort any public or private space by placing advertisements or writing slogans, he said. Such promotional materials should be removed by the parties concerned, failing which, they will be removed by officials, and the cost will be added to the election expenses of the candidates, the Collector added.
Green code
Mr. Subhash has said that the campaign for local body polls should be in compliance with the Green Code of Conduct.
Parties and candidates should use only environment-friendly, soil-soluble and recyclable materials for campaigning. Boards, banners, and flagpoles made of plastic and PVC are not allowed, he said. Also, plastic, threads, or ribbons should not be used.
Mr. Subhash said parties and candidates should remove advertisement boards and other materials after the elections on their own or hand them over to the agencies concerned for recycling. If they are not removed within five days of voting, local body secretaries shall remove them and charge candidates who benefit from advertisements, he added.
The Collector said only eco-friendly materials like cotton, paper, and polyethylene should be used for all official purposes.
Local body secretaries should make available separate carry bags for depositing organic and non-organic waste separately at polling stations, and distribution, reception and counting centres. The Collector also directed them to set up yellow and red carry bags for collecting used masks and gloves.
