The Hindu : Officials told to strictly follow model code of conduct

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 26, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Officials told to strictly follow model code of conduct

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25. The Delhi Chief Secretary, Shailaja Chandra, today asked for "strict compliance" of the model code of conduct in the run-up to the May 10 Lok Sabha elections in Delhi.

At a poll preparedness review meeting here, Ms. Chandra directed senior officials of the Delhi police and the three civic agencies - Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Cantonment Board - to ensure that there was no violation of the model code of conduct and no law and order problem during the campaign period.

A joint mobile team comprising officials from the Delhi police, the MCD and the Election Commission would now be carrying out surprise inspections and move around the city on a regular basis to check if the model code of conduct was being followed, said senior officials after the meeting. The Chief Electoral Officer for Delhi, Arun Goyal, was present at the meeting along with senior police and civic body officials.

Well aware that students of the Capital were preparing for their annual examinations, Ms. Chandra specifically asked the police to ensure that the restrictions with loudspeakers and holding of public meetings were strictly followed, which is 10 p.m. in urban areas and 11 p.m. in the rural areas. Action should be immediately initiated against the violators, she said.

Expressing serious reservations over the role of the police in the December Delhi Assembly elections wherein a large number of voters alleged that the policemen on duty outside the polling booth did not allow them to enter the premises, as they did not carry with them the voter's identity card, Ms. Chandra is understood to have said that this was the role of the Presiding Officer of the polling booth and not the police. The role of police was to maintain law and order in and around the polling booth, she is reported to have said.

Reviewing the progress of the drive being carried out by the three civic bodies regarding removal of election related hoardings, posters and banners and also wall writings, she is understood to have asked the concerned officials to intensify the drive particularly in the rural areas and Outer Delhi where writings on walls have come up in large numbers.

Conceding that the anti-defacement campaign actually started only on March 13, despite the model code of conduct coming into force on February 29, senior MCD officials said in 12 days they have removed 394 hoardings, 9,021 banners and 33,429 posters across the city, besides whitewashing as many as 3,327 sq. metre area of election related slogans written on walls. In East Delhi another 27 wall writings were whitewashed, MCD officials said.

Directing officials to strictly follow the West Bengal Prevention of Properties Defacement Act, she is reported to have expressed satisfaction over its implementation in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly elections.

"There is need to strictly enforce this," she said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi