Chhattisgarh Government Transfers Officials on ECI's Direction

The Chhattisgarh government has transferred eight officials, including three Superintendents of Police (SPs) and two district Collectors, as per the direction of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Chhattisgarh will go to assembly polls in two phases on November 7 and 17.

The Chhattisgarh government has undertaken a significant reshuffling of its administrative cadre following directives from the Election Commission of India (ECI). Eight high-ranking officials, including three Superintendents of Police (SPs) and two district Collectors, were transferred on Wednesday. This move comes in anticipation of the assembly polls slated for November 7 and 17.

Details of Transfers

In accordance with the order issued by the state's General Administration Department late on Wednesday evening, Raigarh Collector Taran Prakash Sinha and Bilaspur Collector Sanjeev Jha have been reassigned as joint secretaries at Mantralaya, the state headquarters. Alongside this, Special Secretary for Food and Civil Supplies Manoj Soni has been moved to serve as special secretary to Mantralaya until further notice.

Police Officials Reassigned

In tandem with these changes, an additional order from the state's Home Department saw a shift in police department leadership. Rajnandgaon SP Abhishek Meena, Korba SP Uday Kiran, Durg SP Shalabh Sinha were all transferred to Assistant Inspector General (AIG) positions at Police Headquarters in Raipur. Additionally, Bilaspur Additional SP Abhishek Maheshwari and Durg Additional SP Sanjay Dhruv also received similar reassignments.

Election Commission Directives

The ECI directive also stipulated that Soni - a 1995 batch Indian Telecom Service officer currently serving as Special Secretary for Food and Civil Supplies while simultaneously holding additional charge as Managing Director of Markfed and MD for Nagarik Apurti Nigam (NAN) - should be divested immediately from all his charges. The commission has explicitly instructed that none of these transferred officers should be given any election-related duties.

Next Steps

The ECI has further instructed the state's chief secretary to provide a panel of three officer candidates for each of the eight vacant positions by 5 pm on Thursday. This is likely to ensure that administrative operations continue smoothly despite the large-scale transfers and that there are no hindrances in the upcoming assembly polls.

In conclusion, these sweeping changes in Chhattisgarh's administration highlight the ECI's commitment to ensuring a fair and impartial electoral process. The directive not only underscores strict adherence to protocol but also demonstrates an effort to prevent potential conflicts of interest during election periods. It will be interesting to see how this reshuffling impacts the functioning of government departments and ultimately, how it affects the conduct and outcome of Chhattisgarh’s assembly elections.