Countdown to January 28 : Posers on the preparedness
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 16, 2012 -

Election in a State of the largest democracy in the world obviously has to be a huge, mammoth exercise.

Three hundred and fifty companies of security force is what has been requisitioned for the election this time round. Of these, two hundred companies have already arrived with the rest expected to follow soon in batches. This is over and above the State forces which include the State police, Indian Reserve Battalion, Manipur Rifles, Village Defence Force and Home Guard. Not a joke by any stretch of the imagination.

The Assam Rifles will provide environmental security, as usual, but this will inevitably mean keeping a tighter tab on the groups which have signed the SoO pact. The security measures taken up are but just a part in the whole exercise of the election.

Under the instructions of the Election Commission of India, general observers, police observers, expenditure observers etc have already been detailed for duty at all the district headquarters. Teams have been formed such as the expenditure team, surveillance team etc and with an eye on keeping a strict check on the conduct of the candidates, political parties and even the media, the State level Media Certification and Monitoring Committee has been set up. District level committees have also been put in place.

These are no small measures and it involves not only the question of keeping the official wheel of the election office churning once in five years but massive movement of people and equipment/materials, deployment of security personnel, keeping the people informed through the newspapers and other means of communication.

It means endless rounds of meetings, round the clock duty for Government officials, keeping a close tab on the activities of all political parties and their candidates, transporting polling officials to far flung areas, in fact even to remote corners of the State, where no Government officials may have ventured. In terms of the movement of people and materials, election time may come second only to the decadal head count, otherwise known as the Census. All these measures have been taken up to keep alive the democratic ethos of the land and the people and make the whole process of election meaningful to the public.

To make the democratic exercise more meaningful and significant, the Election Commission of India has put certain new things in place here. One is of course the setting up of the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee to check the expenditures of the candidates and ensure that it stays within the Rs 8 lakhs ceiling.

Video recordings of the whole polling process which include capturing on camera the filing of the nomination papers, the scrutiny, the withdrawal and polling day, wherein voters will be filmed while entering to cast their vote as well as while exiting.

Airports too have come under strict surveillance to keep a tab on the movement or transfer of money in bulk by air and already Rs 60 lakhs or so have been netted at Delhi airport most probably in connection with the election in Manipur.

Indeed the task at hand is not easy but this is no reason why it should not be enforced in letter and spirit.

In as much as the task is heavy and significant it also becomes important to question whether the arrangements made for the election are progressing as they should or not. Certain questions come to mind.

How is the co-ordination amongst the different teams put in place, say the co-ordination between the expenditure team and the surveillance team ?

How well trained are the people included in the Videography team ?

Will the media be taken into confidence and shown how the poll proceedings have been captured on camera ?

How about a demo-show of the videography exercise on the day that the candidates came to file their nomination papers, the day of the scrutiny and the day of the withdrawal ? Or will these be categorised as classified ?

It may sound trivial but a question on the battery for the videos is fundamental. What happens if the batteries start running low while on poll day ?

How are they to be recharged when power supply is practically non-existent ? Or will spare batteries be provided ?

How are the media cells opened under the Directorate of Information and Public Relations at the district headquarters co-ordinating with the election office ?

This is significant in the background of the failure to get a clear picture on the number of candidates who had cleared the scrutiny even late in the evening of the said day.

The Chief Election Officer has already put on record that no efforts will be spared to bring the law and order situation under control, but the bomb attacks continue nonetheless.

These posers are for the good of all, for making the election free and fair is not only the concern of the ECI or the State Election Office, but the people as a whole. For starters, the absence of that eye sore-the posters and banners and graffitis on public space, thanks to the sharp vigil mounted by the Election Office, is commendable.