Kolkata, Jan 28 (PTI) The EC on Wednesday named 25 senior IAS and IPS officers from West Bengal, including Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena and CID Inspector General Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi, as central
observers for Assembly elections and bypolls in four states and a Union Territory, an official said.
The officers have been summoned for a crucial training session on February 5-6 in New Delhi to prepare for their roles, aimed at ensuring free, fair, and transparent elections in West Bengal as well as in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, he said.
The move comes amid scrutiny of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, with the EC deploying or considering additional observers to oversee the process following allegations by Trinamool Congress and other parties over omission from voter lists in certain constituencies.
Other than Meena and Chaturvedi, few other officers named in the list include Principal Secretary (Transport) Saumitra Mohan, Howrah SP Praveen Kumar Tripathi and Panchayat and RuraL Development Secretary P Ulganathan.
In all, the Election Commission issued summons to 15 IAS and 10 IPS officials.
The official added that the commission issued the notice directly after three letters sent by the EC to the West Bengal Chief Secretary in December, seeking release of IAS and IPS officers for the central observer training, did not receive any response from the state government. PTI SUS MNB
/images/ppid_a911dc6a-image-17695720296911102.webp)
