The Election Commission has decided to put as many as 700 IRS officers as observers in ‘˜expenditure sensitive’ constituencies during the Lok Sabha polls.
The Election Commission has decided to put as many as 700 IRS officers as observers in ‘expenditure sensitive’ constituencies during the Lok Sabha polls.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs are finalizing a list of names suitable for this job. The I-T department has pooled in and compiled a list of its officers from its various wings of tax collection, TDS, investigations and others to be sent on deputation to the EC for this task while the Customs will also depute a team of senior officials from its various formations.
The final briefing of these officials will take place this week in Delhi where they will be told about their role and capacity in the elections. They will not only oversee the Lok Sabha elections but also the state Legislative Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha.
These officers will be posted as ‘Election Expenditure Observers’ in various constituencies and Assembly segments and they will supervise anti-blackmoney procedures being conducted by the flying squads and monitoring teams appointed by the EC.
The EC has formulated a number of measures for curbing the use of illegal money power and luring of voters in the run up to the polls, the first voting day of the polls being April 7.
After these IRS officers will be formally allotted their respective constituencies, they will start touring their respective areas.
Reportedly, the officials will remain with the EC till the final expenditure reports are finalized after the election results are announced on May 16.
