Lucknow, Oct 30 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer’s office has warned District Election Officers (DEOs) of accountability and possible action over errors in electoral rolls, unnecessary delays in processing voter applications and laxity in supervision, directing them to monitor all related work daily through the ECI-Net platform.
In a post on X in Hindi on Friday, the UP CEO’s office said maintaining accurate, error-free and updated electoral rolls was the cornerstone of the democratic process.
Citing Section 13AA of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and Election Commission of India guidelines, it said the ultimate administrative and supervisory responsibility for all voter list-related work rested with the DEOs and was not limited to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) or subordinate officials.
All DEOs have been directed to log in to ECI-Net daily using their designated credentials, regularly review electoral roll-related tasks and effectively use all available review features to ensure proper monitoring.
The profiles of Deputy DEOs, EROs, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), Booth Level Supervisors and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) must be verified to ensure they contain accurate information, including full names, mobile numbers, designations and photographs. Their last-login status must also be checked daily.
The CEO’s office has instructed DEOs to review the receipt and disposal of Forms 6 (new voter registration), 6A (overseas voter registration), 7 (deletion of names or objections to entries) and 8 (shifting of residence, correction or replacement of EPIC and marking of persons with disabilities).
No application should remain unnecessarily pending at the ERO marking, AERO marking or any other level. In cases of pending applications, unusual delays or inactive logins, the reasons must be immediately ascertained and necessary action taken.
Applications concerning another district must be forwarded without delay to the DEO of the concerned district. Those incorrectly assigned to an ERO or AERO must be immediately marked to the correct officer, while applications that have not been assigned to any officer must be promptly marked to the concerned official, the post said.
The office has also prohibited officials from sharing their login credentials, including user IDs, passwords and one-time passwords (OTPs), with anyone.
DEOs have been asked to regularly review the execution of voter list-related tasks by subordinate officials and ensure corrective or punitive action wherever necessary. They must also ensure 100 per cent compliance by subordinate officers with all instructions issued from time to time by the Election Commission and the CEO’s office.
Special emphasis has been laid on the timely and quality disposal of complaints related to electoral rolls and Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs).
All complaints received through the National Grievance Service Portal (NGSP) and other channels must be reviewed daily and disposed of on priority in a timely, factual and satisfactory manner.
DEOs, either personally or through a senior officer nominated by them, must conduct regular sample checks of responses to complaints to ensure that their disposal is not merely a formality but actually addresses the grievances. Accountability of the concerned officials must also be fixed after examining the reasons for pending cases.
DEOs have further been directed to hold weekly review meetings on the disposal of complaints and applications, assess the progress of pending cases and ensure transparent and quality disposal in accordance with the Commission’s instructions.
The CEO’s office has also issued instructions regarding the ‘Book a Call with BLO’ facility available on the ECI-Net app and the citizen service portal, voters.eci.gov.in.
Under this facility, no call request made by a citizen should remain pending for more than 48 hours. Strict action will be taken against any BLO who fails to respond within the stipulated period or marks a request as ‘contacted’ or ‘unavailable’ without actually contacting the concerned citizen, the post said.
It stressed that all voter list-related work must be completed within prescribed timelines and without errors, with the utmost priority, seriousness and sensitivity.
DEOs must regularly review applications on ECI-Net and complaints received through various channels and fix the responsibility of subordinate officials in cases of negligence or unnecessary delays, it added.
(PTI News)
