ECI transfer DMs, SPs/SSPs in 4 states not conferred IAS or IPS; asks all states to follow it
New Delhi, Mar 21 (Representative) The Election Commission of India on Thursday issued transfer orders for non-cadre officers posted at leadership positions as District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP) in four states of Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha and West Bengal. The decision has been taken to have a level playing field in all states during the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The ECI has also issued a directive saying “all respective state governments have been instructed to promptly transfer non-encadred officers from their current roles as DM and SP/SSP, with immediate effect, and submit a compliance report to the Commission,” the SCI said in a release. Post of DM and SP in the district are encadred for officers from Indian Administrative Services (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) respectively, it said.
The decision was taken after the commission convened a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioners Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Shri Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. The officers to be transferred are Gujarat – SP of Chhota Udaipur and Ahmedabad Rural districts; Punjab – SSP of Pathankot, Fazilka, Jalandhar Rural and Malerkotla districts; Odisha – DM of Dhenkanal and SPs of Deogarh and Cuttack Rural districts; and in West Bengal – DM of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram, Purba Bardhaman and Birbhum districts Additionally, the Commission has also directed for transfer of SSP Bathinda in Punjab and SP Sonitpur in Assam in view of 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 administration being biased or perceived to be compromised.
The ECI has appointed Himanshu Agarwal as the new DC of Jalandhar. Likewise, Vishesh Sarangal has been appointed as DC of Gurdaspur. In addition, Jagdale Nilambari Vijay has been posted as DIG and Rakesh Kumar Kaushal has been appointed as DIG of the Border Range. The Commission has also directed the transfer of SSP Bathinda, IPS Harmanbir Singh Gill (brother of Congress MP Jasbir Dimpa), in Punjab due to their kinship or familial association with elected political representatives. SSP Daljinder Singh (Pathankot), Varinder Singh Brara (Fazilka), Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar (Jalandhar Rural) and Harkamalpreet Singh Khak (Malerkotla) have also been transferred. In a similar action, the Commission had recently removed Bengal DGP Rajiv Kumar and appointed 1989 IPS cadre Sanjay Mukherjee as the new DGP.