Election officials in the Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh have been found to have deposited EVMs at their residence instead of the office of the District Electoral Officer.
EVMs were being in the districts of Sarguja and Koriya as part of a project to create awareness among electors as part of the SVEEP programme. The officials had taken the EVMs to their homes after the exhibition.
Chief Electoral Officer Subrat Sahoo, taking cognizance of the issue, immediately called the respective district collectors, who are also the District Electoral Officer and Returning Officer. They said they are not aware of it.
As per information received, in Sarguja and Koriya districts, the Electronic Voting Machines are being displayed for creating awareness among the electors. After the exhibition, the officials had kept the EVM with them and took them to their residences.
Anyhow, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Subrat Sahoo came to know that a few of the officials deputed for creating awareness among the electors under SVEEP programme instead of following the directives of Election Commission of India had kept the EVMs at their residences.
He taking cognizance of the issue, immediately called the respective district collectors who said they are not aware of the situation. The district collectors also function as the district electoral officer and returning officer.
The CEO has pulled up the officials for showing laxity in election-related work. He directed them to ensure that the EVMs are deposited at the DEO's office with immediate effect.
The DEO office was opened at Sunday midnight and the EVMs deposited. Some officers who stayed far away deposited the EVMs on Monday. The collectors had taken the assistance of the police, who had gone to collect the EVMs from the residences of the officers.
Sahoo said stern action would be taken against the officials.