The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : SEC to check election expenses

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Saturday, Jul 12, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

SEC to check election expenses

N.J. Nair

Of members of local self-government institutions in the State

Expenses have to be within guidelines set by SEC
Fall in number of disqualified contestants

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Election Commission is getting ready to scrutinise the statements of election expenditure filed by the elected members of local self-government institutions. The move comes soon after the commission disqualified 8,984 contestants for five years for failing to furnish the expenditure statements on time.

The statements of 16,139 members of 999 grama panchayats, 2,004 members of 152 block panchayats, 339 representatives of 14 district panchayats, 316 members of five corporations and 1,756 members of 53 municipalities will come under the scanner. All the elected members had filed the statements within the time stipulated by the commission and they did not have to face disqualification proceedings along with the other contestants. Action has been planned as per the provisions of the Panchayati Raj and Municipal Acts.

Official sources told The Hindu here that the opinion of the commission was that filing the statements alone would not serve the purpose. Each contestant should also make sure that their election expenses were within the guidelines set by the commission. If the members exceeded the limit, they also may face disqualification proceedings.

According to the guidelines, the maximum expense for electioneering for a contestant to a grama panchayat has been limited to Rs.5,000, block panchayat Rs.10,000, district panchayat Rs.30,000, municipal corporation ward Rs.10,000 and municipality Rs.10,000. Quite often, the contestants tend to cross the limit and it goes unnoticed for want of a thorough monitoring and scrutiny of the statements after the elections. The number of candidates who fail to file the statements was declining after every elections. There was fall in the number of disqualified contestants too. Earlier, it was done in a ritualistic manner. But on learning that the statements were being meticulously analysed by the commission, the contestants too have become serious. The fall in number is a proof of the growing awareness among contestants on filing the statements on time, sources said. If any elected member had to face disqualification proceedings, it is expected to have a cleansing effect on the election scenario in the State.

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