Garhwal Post Bureau
DEHRADUN, 21 Jun: With Uttarakhand State Election Commission having issued the notification for elections to members of all Gram Panchayats, Gram Panchayat Pradhans, Kshetra Panchayat, and Zila Panchayat members across 12 districts of the state, excluding Haridwar, administrative preparations to hold the elections have begun in earnest now. In this regard, the first training session for returning officers was held onSaturday in Dehradun.
In Dehradun district, the three-tier panchayat elections will also be held in two phases. The first phase will cover Chakrata, Kalsi, and Vikasnagar development blocks, while the second phase will see elections in Doiwala, Raipur, and Sahaspur development blocks. Polling for the first phase will be held on July 10 and for the second phase on 15 July. Counting of votes for both phases will be completed on July 19 Nominations can be filed from June 25-28. Nomination papers will be scrutinised on June 29. Withdrawals of nominations will be permitted until 3 PM on July 2. Election symbols will be allotted for the first phase on July 3 and for the second phase on July 8. With the release of the notification for the three-tier panchayat elections, the Model Code of Conduct has also come into effect in the rural areas of the state.
Following instructions from District Magistrate/District Election Officer (Panchayat) Savin Bansal, a first training session for all Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) was conducted on Saturday at the Nagar Nigam Hall. This was overseen by Project Director DRDA Vikram Singh, with the aim of ensuring peaceful, fair, and transparent elections. During the training, detailed theoretical and practical information was provided on all procedures, point by point, from the commencement of nominations to the end of polling.
Project Director Vikram Singh underscored the crucial role of ROs and AROs in the elections. He provided comprehensive information on the sale and scrutiny of nomination papers, allocation of election symbols, and unopposed elections. He also stressed the importance of ensuring strict adherence to the Model Code of Conduct throughout the electoral process. He instructed that extreme caution be exercised during the scrutiny of nomination papers, clarifying that a candidate’s caste certificate must be issued by a competent authority of the Uttarakhand State. He comprehensively trained the officers on the entire election process, from nomination to the conclusion of the polls, and addressed all queries from the ROs and AROs.
The Project Director reiterated that conducting a fair and transparent election is everyone’s responsibility. He instructed all ROs and AROs to take the elections seriously and thoroughly study the RO manual. All Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers were present during the training.
