NEW DELHI: 700 IRS officers would be deployed by the Election Commission as observers in ‘expenditure sensitive’ constituencies during the Lok Sabha polls.
The EC has asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs to finalize the names of suitable officials and send to it for final deployment.
The final briefing of these officials will take place this week in Delhi where they will be told about their authority and role in the elections, both for countrywide Lok Sabha seats and for the state Legislative Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha.
Sources said the officers will be posted as ‘Election Expenditure Observers’ in various constituencies and Assembly segments and they will supervise anti-black money procedures being conducted by the EC appointed flying squads and monitoring teams.
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.
The EC, sources said, will formally allot the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers their respective constituencies in the next few days and observers for all these seats will start touring their respective areas soon.
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 officials will remain with the EC for some more time after the results are announced on May 16 after the final expenditure reports would be finalized,” a senior official said.–PTI
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