2 IAS officers from Karnataka receive best electoral practices awards

New Delhi: Two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in Karnataka have received the Best Electoral Practices Awards for their stellar performances during the state Assembly polls on May 10 last year.

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday presented the Best Electoral Practices Awards for the year 2023 to the state and district-level officers for their outstanding performance in the conduct of elections in 2023.

The awards were presented on the occasion of the National Voters’ Day celebrations in New Delhi.

The government departments and media organizations were also awarded for their contributions towards raising awareness among the voters.

The Election Commission (EC) chose Divya Prabhu G R J, Deputy Commissioner of Chitradurga, for the award in recognition of her “strenuous efforts” as the District Election Officer to enhance enrolment of youths, transgenders, people with disabilities and sex workers as voters.

The number of voters with disabilities increased from 14,092 to 23,422 in the district with 100% participation in the state assembly polls last year.

Shikha C, Commissioner for Commercial Taxes, was awarded for her department’s innovative strategies to ensure free and fair state assembly elections by creating an e-ARM cell, enabling the seizure exceeding Rs 300 crore in the run-up to the polls on May 10 last year.

The officials of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Tripura, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand also received the Best Electoral Practices Awards.

Vinit Nandanwar, Collector of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, was also among the recipients of the awards. The EC chose him for the award recognizing his role in enhancing voter turnout in “a very challenging terrain”.

Dantewada is known as a stronghold of the ultra-leftist insurgents, who often call for boycotting the elections. Nandanwar played a key role in enhancing voter turnout by 9.26per cent – the highest increase in the 90 assembly constituencies of Chhattisgarh.