NEW Delhi/CHANDIGARH
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday ordered immediate transfers of several non-cadre officers who are posted at leadership positions as District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP) in four states, namely Punjab, Gujarat, Odisha, and West Bengal.
In Punjab, the SSPs of Jalandhar (Rural), Pathankot, Fazilka, and Malerkotla districts as well as the SSP Bathinda have been transferred with immediate effect.
The posts of DM and SP in the districts are encoded for officers from the Indian Administrative and Indian Police Service, respectively, a statement issued by ECI said.
The move has been initiated to ensure a level playing field for the ongoing exercise of Lok Sabha elections.
Apart from these, the ECI has ordered transfers of the following officers: SP of Chhota Udaipur and Ahmedabad Rural districts in Gujarat, DM of Dhenkanal and SPs of Deogarh and Cuttack Rural districts of Odisha, DM of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram, Purba Bardhaman and Birbhum districts of West Bengal, and the SP of Sonitpur district in Assam.
The ECI has transferred the Sonitpur SP and Bathinda SSP given their kinship or familial association with the elected political representatives. The officials in these two districts have been transferred as pre-emptive measures to dispel any apprehensions of the administration being biased or perceived to be compromised, the ECI sources said.