Kolkata, March 18 (NationPress) In a bid to ensure complete transparency in the electoral management process for the upcoming two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal next month, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a new initiative to monitor the daily operations of general observers, police observers, and expenditure observers assigned for the elections in the state.

A specialized monitoring team, led by Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, will be established. This team will not only supervise the activities of the ECI-appointed observers but will also provide a daily report of their findings to the ECI headquarters in New Delhi, as revealed by a source from the CEO's office.

“The ECI has appointed a total of 294 general observers for West Bengal, distinguishing it as the only one among the four states and one union territory preparing for elections to have a dedicated general observer for each Assembly constituency. In addition, the elections in West Bengal will see the deployment of 84 police observers, the highest number among the election-bound regions. Furthermore, there will be 100 expenditure observers, the second-highest among all the states and union territories,” the insider from the CEO's office stated. “The ECI aims to implement rigorous oversight of daily activities to ensure the system is completely foolproof and transparent.”

This initiative aligns with the commitment made by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar earlier this month, emphasizing the goal of conducting the West Bengal Assembly elections in a free, fair, and violence-free manner.

“By instituting a daily monitoring mechanism for ECI-appointed general, police, and expenditure observers, the ECI intends to promote transparency and counter allegations that its oversight has been limited to bureaucrats and police personnel of the state government,” the insider added.

In related developments, after appointing Jagdish Prasad Meena, the West Bengal Home Secretary, as a central observer for the elections in Tamil Nadu, the ECI has selected two additional departmental secretaries from the state to serve as central observers for other election-bound regions.

These include Antara Acharya, the secretary of the state public works department (PWD), and Parvez Ahmed Siddique, the secretary of the state food processing department. However, both have asked the ECI to reconsider their new assignments as central observers in other states.