J&K Assembly polls likely in December? Govt opens up CVC selection to pvt CEOS
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission appears to be inclined towards holding assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on schedule as its team feels that the ground situation is conducive to conduct the elections despite the state having been hit by the worst floods it has seen in 60 years.
EC officers, however, insisted that the final decision would be taken by the commission after holding deliberations with security agencies, the weather department and the national disaster management authority. “Nothing is final. We are still discussing the issues regarding polls,” an EC functionary said.
A final decision in this regard is likely to be announced after counting of votes in Maharashtra and Haryana on October 19.
An EC team led by its deputy Zutsi had asked the state’s chief electoral officer to notify returning officers for all 87 assembly seats. “Notification of the returning officers for each assembly segment is a must pre-requisite for conducting the polls,” an EC official said, hinting that the poll watchdog ing process before January 19, when the new assembly has to be notified.
The EC’S team has also instructed the CEO to submit tentative phase-wise schedule for conducting the polls considering the adverse climatic conditions Conference, all political parties in the state have demanded that the polls be held on time.
Senior lawyer Ashok Bhan has urged the EC to defer the polls in “public interest” as the devastation has caused immense “mental and economic trauma” to the local NEW DELHI: In the first step towards ending the monopoly of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) over the Central Vigilance Commissioner’s (CVC) post, the government on Monday changed the ground rules to provide a level playing field for individuals and officers alike to apply for the key post to the anti-corruption watchdog as well.
Every candidate — irrespective of their previous job or service — will have to submit a 300-word write-up justifying their claim to the posts, should less than 62 years and must have headed a company or a government department.
The change comes a day before the Supreme Court is slated to resume hearing a case against the restrictive selection procedure for the CVC and vigilance commissioners. At its last hearing in end September the court provisions that discouraged private individuals from applying. The fresh rules are expected to enable the government restart the selection process after the court’s approval.
The convention so far had been to appoint an IAS officer as the CVC. Of the two posts of vigilance commissioners, one went to an IPS officer and the other to