Raipur. Trainee IAS officers of 2023 batch of the state had a courtesy meeting with Chief Electoral Officer Reena Babasaheb Kangale today. During this, Reena Babasaheb Kangale informed the trainee officers Anupama Anand, M. Bhargava, Tanmay Khanna and Durga Prasad in detail about the intricacies of the election process.
Chief Electoral Officer Reena Babasaheb Kangale told him that fair and transparent elections are necessary to strengthen democracy and since administrative officers have the responsibility of conducting elections, proper knowledge of election rules, awareness and transparency are necessary to successfully conduct this task. It is very important. He said that by working cautiously while maintaining complete transparency in following the election procedures at every level, the election work is conducted smoothly.
The Chief Electoral Officer told the trainee officers that the state of Chhattisgarh is full of geographical diversity. Many polling stations here are in inaccessible and sensitive areas, in such a situation, careful work is necessary at all levels including arrangements for sending polling parties to the polling stations as well as security arrangements. He said that the hard work done during elections becomes meaningful only when we are successful in conducting fair and transparent elections even in sensitive areas. Election is team work and success in election work is achieved only through team work.
Observed command and control center
Chief Electoral Officer Kangale, while giving a tour of the Command and Control Center to the trainee officers, said that control rooms have been set up in the Chief Electoral Officer’s office to keep an eye on the voting activities from moment to moment. He said that by using advanced techniques of information technology in the election process, the election process is also observed in remote polling centers during voting. He told that in the Command and Control Center established in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, live video is observed simultaneously on 16 big screens through web casting of 96 polling stations. Cameras have been installed to obtain live images from polling stations during elections. This is the first time that cameras have been installed inside as well as outside the polling station so that the queues of voters and other activities outside can be monitored.
The Chief Electoral Officer told the trainee IAS officers that apart from the Control and Command Centre, an Electronic Media Monitoring Center is also established in the Chief Electoral Officer’s office. Here, the news broadcast on various news channels on 18 TV screens simultaneously is being continuously monitored so that news of violation of the code of conduct can be monitored. Besides, continuous monitoring is being done on various social media platforms, print media, paid news and publicity related posts.
Observed the facilities available at the polling center
While telling the trainee IAS officers about the arrangements made for the voters, the Chief Electoral Officer said that along with ensuring transparency of the election work, maximum participation of voters in the voting work can be ensured in view of the scorching heat. In view of the heat wave, availability of drinking water and other facilities has been ensured at all places. He told the young officers that pink booths have been made to increase the participation of women in voting. Keeping in mind the facilities of elderly and disabled people, the facility of voting at home has also been made available.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that the election work can be completed only with the dutiful devotion of the officers and employees employed in the voting process and the widespread enthusiasm of the voters. He said that as administrative officers, all of you have to handle the responsibility of elections in future and for this it is necessary that you carefully observe the election process. On this occasion, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Nilesh Mahadev Kshirsagar, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Apoorva Priyesh Toppo and Assistant Chief Electoral Officer Sharda Aggarwal and other officers were present.
