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Kolkata, Oct 19 (IANS) A fresh tussle has erupted between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the West Bengal government over the choice of the agency required to maintain the infrastructure for polling stations, technically known as Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) and Extended Minimum Facilities (EMF), ahead of the Assembly elections in the state next year.
The ECI and the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, are in favor of abandoning the old decentralized system through allocation of funds to District Magistrates (District Election Officers) for election-related expenses, a large part of which is the development of infrastructure for booths.
The ECI aims to replace the existing decentralized process with a more transparent system for utilization of election funds, bringing greater clarity and preventing misuse of expenditure in this sector. He wanted a reputed state-run entity to carry out the AMF activities, and accordingly, the CEO’s office approached McIntosh Burn Limited (MBL), a West Bengal government undertaking, which has years of proven experience in building and maintaining infrastructure.
Insiders in the CEO office said the fight started from there. “After initial discussions, the McIntosh Burn management agreed to take over the AMF activities for the election booths. But to the surprise of the ECI and the CEO’s office, last week, the McIntosh Burn management informed the CEO’s office about its inability to work,” said an insider in the CEO’s office.
However, after ECI initially agreed to treat the work lightly, McIntosh Burn management has not backed down on this approach, and the CEO’s office has sent a fresh communication to management. The ECI and the Office of the CEO exercised its authority under certain sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and directed the State Government to carry out the AMF activities as agreed earlier.
The latest communication issued by the Additional Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to the Director of McIntosh Burn has asked him to initiate preliminary exercise for election booth maintenance activities or face consequences under existing legal provisions including criminal proceedings against the directors of the entity under various sections of the Indian Justice Code (BNS).
At the time the report was filed, there was no response from the McIntosh Burn management or the state government on this latest release from the CEO’s office. In fact, the state government officials as well as the top brass of McIntosh Burn, which is a state government undertaking, have so far maintained complete silence on this development.
–IANS
Source/DPB