Election Department is committed to conduct Baroda by-election in an independent, transparent, safe and fair manner- Anurag Agarwal.

Chandigarh October 06: Haryana Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Anurag Agarwal said that the Election Department is committed to conduct Baroda by-election in an independent, transparent, safe and fair manner. He said that during this pandemic situation, voters including Covid-19 patients, 80 years and above, persons with disabilities will be allowed to vote through Postal Ballot.

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) was speaking while holding a meeting of representatives of all political parties regarding Baroda Assembly Bye-Elections here today.

He said that the facility of voting through Postal Ballot Papers is being provided to such voters for the first time in Baroda by-election. Similarly, 57 additional polling booths have been created to conduct the Baroda by elections in a fair and transparent manner. Earlier there were 223 polling booths in the Baroda Assembly which have been increased to 280 polling booths, so that the voters do not face any inconvenience during this pandemic situation, he said.

He asserted that citizens can file online complaint through C-Vigil App by uploading videos and photos, if they find any violation of Model Code of Conduct during election campaigning or voting and evaluation team will initiate an action in this regard.

He urged the representatives of political parties that maximum people should download C-Vigil App so that the by-elections are conducted in a fair and transparent manner. Apart from this, 24×7 helpline number 1950 can also be contacted to file the complaint regarding any violation.

While informing the representatives of political parties, Mr. Agarwal said that the arrangement of live web-cam cast will also be made at each polling station, set up in Baroda Assembly segment so that every polling station can be monitored on polling day. He said that the Election Commission Department will use available technology to conduct the elections.

Similarly, he said that all the political parties can conduct public meeting while following the norms of social distancing during this Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, the norms set for Covid-19 should be followed on the day of polling. All polling stations will be sanitized before one day keeping in view the safety during this pandemic. He informed that along with the arrangement of soap, sanitizer, mask in polling stations would be made available. Gloves will also be provided to the voters while ensuring the safety of voters during casting their vote.

Apart from this, thermal screening of the voters will also be conducted at the polling booths. If the body temperature of a voter exceeds then token will be provided to such voter and they will be allowed to cast their vote during the last one hour of polling time in the evening.

During the meeting, the Chief Electoral Officer also responded to the queries raised by the representatives of political parties and said that on September 25, the final voter list has been published and no name of voter will be erased. Apart from this, if a person applies to get his name registered in the voter list by 12.00 am today, ie on October 6, 2020, his name will be verified and added. Otherwise no change would be made in the voter list.

He informed the representatives of all political parties that the Modal Code of Conduct should not be violated in any way, as the Modal code of conduct is imposed in the entire Sonipat district.

He also urged all political parties that all political parties should maintain good and amicable atmosphere during this by-election so that law and order can be maintained.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Jaibir Singh Arya and Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Apoorva Kumar Singh and representatives of political parties including Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress Party, Jananayak Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, CPI (M), Indian National Lok Dal Party were present during the meeting.

Chandigarh, October 6: Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Dushyant Chautala, has thanked Union Finance Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman for releasing an amount of Rs. 761 crore as GST Compensation-Cess (Compensation amount) for Haryana out of the Compensation-Fund of more than Rs. 20,000 crore.

Notably, Mr. Dushyant Chautala said that he had attended the 42nd GST Council meeting of the Central Government through video conferencing from Chandigarh on October 5, 2020. The Union Finance Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Anurag Thakur, several senior officials attended the meeting from New Delhi. Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, Ministers, and many senior officials of various states took part in this meeting.

Mr. Dushyant Chautala said that during the meeting, he highlighted that presently an amount of Rs 20,000 crore is pending with the Central Government and had also urged Union Finance Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharama to release the same.

He said that fulfilling her commitment, Mrs. Sitharaman allocated the Compensation Fund to all the states, of which Rs. 761 crore of Haryana’s share has also been released.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that the issue raised by him regarding imposing tax on hand sanitizer was also clarified by the Union Finance Minister which would benefit all the states. He also informed that the GST Council has also approved changes in the return-filing system to which GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B will be linked. He informed that the Council has made the annual return for the year 2019-20 optional to taxpayers having a turnover of less than Rs. 2 crore.

Mr. Dushyant Chautala said that he has also apprised the Union Finance Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, who is also the Chairperson of the GST Council, that a large amount of Haryana’s GST Compensation of this year is pending with the Central Government and urged her to explore ways to release the same.

Mr. Dushyant Chautala also urged the Chairperson of the Council to continue the GST Compensation-Cess in the future after the five years period by fixing a period of more three or five years.

Chandigarh, October 6: Haryana Government has constituted a Screening Committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary, Mr. Vijai Vardhan, in view of the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct during the Baroda bye-election. The Committee will consist of Administrative Secretary of the department to which the proposal relates and Principal Secretary, General Administration Department as its members.

Giving information in this regard, an official spokesperson said that this committee will examine each proposal, before sending it to Election Commission of India (ECI) through the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

The proposals cleared by the Screening Committee shall be submitted to the CEO Haryana through cVIGIL App of the ECI alongwith full details and a note on urgency, i.e. why the proposal can’t wait till completion of poll/election. The CEO shall forward only such proposals that are cleared by the aforesaid Screening Committee, to the Commission.

Chandigarh, October 6 – Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management and Consolidation Department, Haryana, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal has directed the officers to resolve all the problems faced in the registration of lands on priority basis. He directed the departments concerned to complete their work within the stipulated time period.

Mr. Kaushal gave these directions while presiding over the meeting of higher officers concerned of the departments related to the registries of lands here today. On this occasion, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr. V. Umashankar, Principal Secretary, Development and Panchayat Department, Mr. Sudhir Rajpal, Director-General, Urban Local Bodies Department Mr. Amit Kumar Agrawal, Director, Town and Country Planning Department, Mr. K. Makarand Pandurang, Director, Consolidation of Land Holdings and Land Records, Ms. Amna Tasneem and many other senior officers of various departments attended the meeting.

In the meeting Additional Chief Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management and Consolidation Department, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal was apprised that out of 87 Urban Municipal Bodies in the state, Property-IDs of 84 have been made. The Property-IDs of Bass and Sisai in Hisar district and the area of Kundali Municipality in Sonipat district are pending.

The officers also shared the difficulties being faced while making floor-wise registration in the area of Haryana Urban Development Authority.

On this occasion, Mr. Kaushal directed the officers to immediately resolve the problems related to land registers in their respective departments.

Chandigarh, October 6 – In a major break-through, Haryana Police have nabbed most-wanted criminal and kingpin of Kashi gang, who carries a bounty of Rs 25,000 from Bhiwani district on him. The police recovered a revolver and four cartridges from his possession.

Giving this information here today, a Haryana Police spokesperson informed that the arrested accused identified as Vikas alias Kashi, a resident of Panjokhra was involved in a series of heinous crimes in the area. The arrest was made by a team of the Crime Investigation Agency following a tip-off.

He carries a bounty of Rs 25,000 and had been serving imprisonment in eight cases of murder, attempt to murder, loot, dacoity, and under Arms Act. Apart from this, he was wanted by the police in around 11 criminal cases, including two registered in Rajasthan. He came out of jail in 2017 and failed to return back.

It is worthwhile to mention that following the directives of DGP Haryana, Mr. Manoj Yadava, Haryana Police have launched a massive crackdown to nab most-wanted and notorious criminals across the state.

Chandigarh, October 6 – Under the ongoing process of paddy procurement in Haryana, 17,85,582.59 quintal of paddy crop arrived in the mandis today of which 1,02,003.165 quintal was purchased.

Sharing details in this regard, Additional Chief Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Mr. P.K. Das said that other than paddy crop, 84,930.88 quintal of bajra arrived in the mandi of which 31,999.26 quintal was purchased and 1,351.33 quintal of maize arrived of which 224 quintal was purchased.

Mr. Das further added that the registration on the Meri Fasal, Mera Byora portal for paddy procurement for the farmers from outside the state was opened and the farmers should bring the certified copies of documents showing that they have sown paddy in their fields as owner or tenant during procurement.