SHARING BEST ELECTORAL PRACTICES 1 PRESENTED BY SMT. G. JAYALAKSHMI, I.A.S DIRECTOR OF HORTICULTURE ANDHRA PRADESH, HYDERABAD.

 Focus on electoral roll  Law & order management 2 INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ELECTIONS.

BASIS OF CLEAN ELECTORAL ROLL  First step towards free & fair election  Blue print for the basis of election process  Empowerment to the right of the voter  Correct information of every voter  Enrolment of every eligible voter 3

ELECTORAL ROLL – PROFILE OF WEST GODAVARI No. of Assembly constituencies No. of Parliamentary constituencies : 2 (full), 1 (partial) District Population:38,03,517 No. of electors (i) Male: (ii) Female: No. of electors with EPIC (1) Total Electors: (2) Electors without EPIC : (3) Electors with EPIC : (4) Percentage of EPIC coverage:98.18 No. of electors with photos in electoral rolls (1) Total Electors: (2) Total Photos on Rolls: (3) Electors without photos: (4) Percentage of Photo coverage:

PRE – ELECTION PHASE  Door to door enumeration with EPIC linked roll  Verification of the correct information of electoral roll  Matching of photographs  Wherever EPIC data not available photos were collected  Post cards were sent in urban areas with the dates of photo schedule  Provision of two wheelers to the lower functionaries photo coverage in interior tribal areas  Regular monitoring on weekly basis through set conferences & managements with Eos and AEOs 5

DURING ELECTION PHASE  Distribution of EPIC cards & coverage  Complaints cell opened at constituency level  Rectification of EPIC cards where printing errors noted  Mismatch of photographs  Facilitation counters at District Level organised for voter assistance 6

LAW & ORDER MANAGEMENT 7

PRE – ELECTION PHASE MANAGEMENT  Law & order profile of each Gram Panchayat  Identification of previous election offence, political & caste dynamics  Polling - Station - wise data on the dominance of certain groups  Previous election related violence with reference to local body elections, co- elections & also Water User Association Election 8

JOINT MEETINGS AT CONSTITUENCY LEVEL Meetings organised with District Collector & Superintendent of Police.  District Collector & Superintendent of Police organised meetings  Divisional level team – RDO & DSP  Mandal level team : Tahsildhar & S.I / C.I.  Gram Panchayat Level: Village Revenue Officer Panchayat Secretary Objectives :  To prepare a functional team which will work till the election process is completed  Sharing of crucial information between departments.  Better management of the limited staff available. 9

OUTCOME OF JOINT MEETINGS  Identification of trouble mongers, previous offenders  Strategies to book under CrPC Sec 107, 109 & 110 were planned  Name lists were drawn for bind over  Crucial identification of repeated offenders under excise crimes for action under Preventive Detention Act  Time line prepared for the action to be taken 10

CHALLENGES IN LAW & ORDER  New political scenario due to emerging of new political party i.e. Prajarajyam of elections 2004  Found & leader of the party contesting from one of the constituency  Political emotions & possible violence based on community basis  New splinter group with in the same community leading to complicated power dynamics with in the village 11

LAW AND ORDER CASES AS ON S. No Division U/s 107 Cr.P.C.U/s 109 Cr.P.C.U/s 110 Cr.P.C.Total PoliceExcisePoliceExcisePoliceExcisePoliceExcise No. of Cases No. of Persons Bind over No. of Cases No. of Persons Bind over No. of Cases No. of Persons Bind over No. of Cases No. of Persons Bind over No. of Cases No. of Persons Bind over No. of Cases No. of Persons Bind over No. of Cases No. of Persons Bind over No. of Cases No. of Persons Bind over 1Eluru Kovvuru J R Gudem Narasapuram TOTAL

DURING ELECTIONS PHASE  Mid review through Joint Meetings on action taken  Change in political scenario in the village due to the nomination of candidates  Re-assessment of political sensitivity gram panchayat wise  Formulation of strategies in the focal constituencies i.e. based on the importance of the contesting candidates. 13

CHECK ON EXCISE RELATED OFFENCES  Identification of Excise profile of each gram panchayat  Joint Meetings with Excise, Police & Revenue officials  Returning officers to monitor & conduct independent checks & raids in vulnerable areas  Lifting of stocks from the department was regulated by taking the previous year sales as the criteria  Check posts, patrol teams, vehicle checks were organised intensively  1344 belt shops were closed 14

OTHER INITIATIVES  Huge drawals from banks were monitored & information was collected from the Co-ordinators of Banks  Deposit of money into the Women Self Help Groups was kept under check  To check MCC violation teams shadow team on candidates at Mandal and at constituency level was organized.  Exclusive team to view footage was formed for each constituency & cases were booked.  Volunteers / NGO Groups were identified which informed on MCC violations 15

STRATEGIES THAT WORKED  Planning the intensive revision based on the EPIC data.  Organising teams as per priority to cover areas which were uncovered or less covered.  Special drive to identify dead and shifted voters especially in urban areas.  Sharing of information and co-ordination with police and other departments.  Returning officers being involved right from the beginning in law and order issues, vulnerability mapping, coverage of epic cards helped them to perform their task in a holistic manner. 16

THANK YOU 17