Election Dept set to get more staff

Neena Sharma

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 8

The creation of 309 posts will help the State Election Department tide over the problem of shortage of staff and enhance the department’s penetration in the collection of electoral data at the grassroots level.

The restructuring and expansion of the department, to be carried out by the government this week, will also throw up employment opportunities at all levels in all tehsils and Assembly constituencies.

According to the restructuring effected by the government, a total of 309 posts will be created at the chief electoral office and electoral offices in 13 districts, in the offices of returning officers and in the offices of assistant returning officers. In all, the new structure will comprise 438 posts, including new and already filled.

“The structuring was long over due. It will help us in effectively deploying the electoral machinery at the time of revision of rolls all across the state,” said Radha Raturi, Chief Electoral Officer.

The Chief Electoral Office will now comprise of a total of 42 employees, including an additional Chief Electoral Officer from the IAS cadre and a new post of Deputy Chief Electoral Officer from the PCS cadre.

In the 13 district electoral offices, the staff structure will now comprise 226 posts, out of which 39 posts are already occupied, 141 new permanent posts will be created and around 46 posts be outsourced and filled through a private agency.

Further, the government has also effected a hike in the pay band of assistant district electoral officers. Instead of the grade pay of Rs 15,600-39,100, a pay band of Rs 4,200-5,400 will now be admissible to the assistant district electoral officers.

Significantly, 70 new posts will be created in the offices of the returning officers in all Assembly constituencies. These posts will be filled through a private agency. While 100 posts will be created at the offices of returning officers in 100 tehsils, these will mostly comprise data entry operators. The government is expected carry out recruitment prior to the 2017 Assembly elections.