ECI directs J&K admin to shift officials

Srinagar, July 31: As the eagerly awaited assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir approach, the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a directive to the J&K administration on Wednesday, mandating the transfer of officials serving in their native districts or those who have been in a particular district for over three years within the last four years.

In an official communication to the J&K Chief Secretary and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the ECI said that no officer directly involved with election duties should remain posted in their home district if they have completed three years there within the last four years or will complete three years by September 30, 2024.

The commission has further instructed that the transfers and postings of all officers falling under these guidelines must be executed promptly.

Compliance reports, detailing actions taken, must be submitted by the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) to the commission by August 20, 2024.

The letter also reiterated that elections to the Legislative Assembly of J&K are imminent.

This follows the Supreme Court's directive on December 11, 2023, which ordered the ECI to conduct the J&K assembly polls by September 30, 2024.

Jammu and Kashmir has been under direct central rule since June 19, 2018, following the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrawing its support from the Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government, citing a “deteriorating” law and order situation in the region.

The last assembly election in J&K was conducted in 2014.