Interacting with media persons for the first time after officially taking charge as the Deputy Commissioner of the district in Mangalore on Friday, Mr. Gupta said that his transfer has come about following orders from the Election Commission and ensuring a smooth electoral process in the district is the immediate objective before the district administration at present.
“Right now the focus is on getting more and more people to register themselves in the voter list. These are the final days of registration and corrections and opportunities for the same will come to a close after April 7. Hence we are trying to make sure that more people come forward and get their names registered. The district already has a control room to address people's grievances with the 1077 helpline being active. But we are looking to strengthen it further and introduce 5-6 parallel lines and additional staff so that more lines are available to people to contact the district administration in case of assistance on election related clarifications”, Mr. Gupta said.
Stating that he is aware of the problem of naxal affected areas in the district, Mr. Gupta said that in order to ensure greater voter participation in these areas, the district administration will take additional steps. “The frequency of visits by returning officers and flying squads will be increased in these areas. The Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme will also be used to good effect to create an atmosphere of confidence and encourage people to come out in good numbers to vote”, he said.
Mr. Gupta appealed to the voter fraternity to also shoulder some responsibility and get their names cancelled if there are multiple registration of names in different centres. “It is the duty of the voter to get his/her name removed from the list if his/her name has been registered in more than one place. The district administration will on its part take steps to check bogus voting. On the polling day, checking will be held in border areas so that bogus voting from people hailing from other states is avoided”, the Deputy Commisisoner said.
Attempts will be made to make the election process as smooth and systematic as possible, Mr. Gupta said. “We will try and maintain systematic monitoring of the election moral code of conduct. We are looking to string together better co-ordination between different teams such as the video surveillance department, accounts section, flying squad etc besides systematic maintaining of the shadow register. In a day or two, orders are also expected on the change of returning officers in the district too”, he revealed.
Mr. Gupta said that getting a transfer back to Mangalore feels like “homecoming” as he has worked in the district in the past. “I started my career from Puttur as an Assistant Commissioner. It is in Puttur that I learnt Kannada. Now after 13-14 years, I have got the opportunity to come back here. It feels like homecoming, to the place where I grew”, Mr. Gupta said.
P Dayananda, Additional Deputy Commissioner, DK, Dr. K N Vijayprakash, CEO, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, Dr. Harish Kumar, Commissioner, Mangalore City Corporation (MCC), were also present.
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