VIJAYAWADA: Stating that the 'willful and deliberate acts of omission and commission and bad faith' on the part of the Panchayat Raj Department headed by its Principal Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and Commissioner M Girija Shankar, has resulted in new voters stand disenfranchised in the panchayat polls, State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on Tuesday issued censure orders against the two officials terming them 'unsuited to discharge the responsibilities cast on their office'. Further, the SEC said the censure will form part of their service record.
He communicated the same to Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das a day after the Supreme Court cleared the decks for the conduct of elections.In the eight-page proceedings, the SEC deliberated on the importance of Right to Vote and the conferment of franchise on citizens is an obligation cast on the State.
The Panchayat Raj Commissioner was directed to instruct all the District Panchayat Officers in November 2020 to undertake revision of rolls to conduct the polls as per the latest voter list. A deadline of January 25, 2021 was set for the publication of the final electoral rolls to conduct panchayat polls in February, the SEC said.
"The SEC, much to its chagrin, noted that barring the DPO of Visakhapatnam, no other DPO in the State had complied with the instructions. This was also brought to the notice of the Panchayat Raj Commissioner and the administrative department, impressing upon them to undertake the time-bound process without fail," Ramesh Kumar said.
The SEC said as a result of the intransigence and willful failure to go ahead with the election schedule, it had no option but to fall back on 2019 electoral rolls instead of 2021 voter list for conduct of panchayat polls.
A large number of young voters have lost their right to vote as a result of the deliberate, willful and colourable exercise of power by the two officials, who exhibited "bad conscience and lack of sensitivity to be alive to the responsibility cast on them and the horrendous consequences of their acts, which they callously shunned and ignored", Ramesh Kumar said.
"This is no ordinary lapse to be condoned. For reasons of expediency, there is no other option but to adopt 2019 electoral rolls for polls solely on account of failure of the State and Panchayat Raj Department," the SEC said.
In the censure, Ramesh Kumar said Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and Girija Shankar displayed total lack of sensitivity to the tenets of empowerment of grassroot democracy and institutions as laid down by the 73rd amendment of the Constitution.
The SEC further said both the officials are ‘unsuited to discharge the responsibilities cast on them’ and lacking the qualities of mind and heart as evidenced again and again. Hence, the censure will form part of their service record, Ramesh Kumar said.
Review meet on PR polls
SEC will hold a video conference with District Collectors, SPs and DPOs on the conduct of elections and the Covid vaccination drive on Wednesday. DGP Gautam Sawang issued an order stating that no leave will be sanctioned for officers and men till February 21 in view of panchayat polls.