New ECI Directive: Transfer of officers to other dist of same Parliamentary constituency restricted

Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India on Saturday issued new Directive on transfer of officers. ECI asked State governments in a letter to ensure that officers who are transferred out of the district after completing 3 years are not posted in another district within the same Parliamentary Constituency. The ECI also directed States/UTs to implement transfer policy in both letter and spirit.

Taking serious note of the cases wherein officers are being transferred/posted in the adjacent districts within the same Parliamentary Constituency by the State governments, the Commission has strengthened its existing transfer policy to ensure that officials are not able to disturb the level playing field in the elections.

Plugging the loopholes in the existing instructions, the Commission has directed that, except for the State/UTs that comprise up to two Parliamentary Constituencies, all States shall ensure that officers who are transferred out of the district are not posted within the same Parliamentary Constituency.

As per ECI Policy, all the officers who were either posted in their home district or have completed three years at a place have been directed to be transferred. This includes officers who are in any way connected to the election work either directly or in supervisory capacity, the communique from the ECI said.