MCC violation: 37 govt employees suspended in J&K

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shailendra Kumar has placed 37 government employees under suspension for violation of election model code of conduct (MCC) in the last one month.

As there is no end to the violation of the MCC by government employees in J&K after the announcement of the schedule for Lok Sabha elections last month, the action was taken against these employees for campaigning for different political parties and other violations in the past 27 days.

An official spokesperson said that 59 complaints relating to MCC violations by the employees were received by the CEO and district election officers. The official data also reveals that eight FIRs have been filed against election-related violations since the imposition of the MCC.

The poll body has also recovered 36 illegal weapons, seized cash amounting to Rs 19.68 lakh and 1887 litres of liquor. The C-VIGIL On-line Citizen Portal of Commission deals with the online complaints related to the MCC and Expenditure violations like distribution of liquor, drugs, money, intimidation, communal hate speech, paid news, free transportation, fake news, property defacement etc by any party, individual.

On March 30, the CEO had said that there won’t be any leniency towards government employees found involved in electioneering. “Action would be taken against the employees if they indulge in electioneering or create hurdles in election-related processes,” he said.

The MCC is a set of norms laid down by the Election Commission (EC), with the consensus of political parties. It spells out the dos and don’ts to be followed by political parties, candidates, polling agents and employees during the election procedure. They are expected to observe these guidelines on the content of election manifestos, their speeches and processions and overall general conduct.

The code comes into force as soon as the EC announces the poll schedule and remains operational until the process is concluded, as provided in the notification.