Bhubaneswar: Ahead of three-tier Panchayat elections in Odisha, the State Election Commission (SEC) held an all-party meeting today. The meeting has been held under the chairmanship of State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi.
Reportedly, there was discussion over six agendas in the meeting. The State Election Commission held an online meeting with all the district collectors prior to this meeting.
The Electors Photo Identification Card (EPIC) id number of the voters will be added along with their names to the list, said State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi in a press meet. He also said that “We will soon announce regarding preparation of voter list. The voter list will be prepared without any mistake. ”
He further said that usually the voting time was from 7 am to 12 pm. But as this time there will be a central counting at the block level instead of booths, the duration is likely to increase.
A detailed discussion was held on various matters including the term of Panchayati Raj Institutions, the identification of voting centers, the preparation of the voter list, the period of voting and the cost of the elections. In order to keep a check on duplicate voter IDs, there will be a serial number system during the elections.
The cost and duration of the panchayat elections have been decided to remain the same as earlier where the Zilla Parishad was allowed to spend Rs 2 lakh, the committee members were allowed for Rs 80,000 and the Sarpanch for Rs 80,000.
As the term of Zilla Parishad ends by second week of March, the State Election Commission has begun all the necessary preparation to conduct the elections accordingly. With the panchayat elections looming, political strategies has also increased. All the parties have been working hard to improve their organizational skills.
On the other hand, various proposals have been put forward by different parties at the meeting such as two extra hours along with the usual voting time duration, increase in election costs, Rs 5 lakh instead of Rs 2 lakh for Zilla Parishad, double of Rs 80,000 for the committee members or Rs 2 lakh instead of Rs 1,60,000.
It has also been proposed that all the liquor shops should be closed seven days prior to the election date. Officers should be appointed at each voting booth in order to make a fair voting.
