Post on 29-Mar-2015
Caveat………..We are not
• lecturer• More important than everyone else• Necessarily an expert• The centre of attention• An arbiter
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Caveat…..
sameness
But…..
“ Never become so much of expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as as a continuous learning experience.”
- American motivational speaker and author of self help books.
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ECI instruction No. 464/INST/2007-PLN-1 Dated 12 Oct 2007The Golden Rule
• An atmosphere in which each and every elector is able to access the polling station without being obstructed or being unduly influenced by anybody is an important prerequisite to a free and fair election.
FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONSARE
SINE QUA NON
From the ECI website
“ECI Communication Plan, introduced during the MP Assembly Elections 2008, proved to be immensely useful to all stakeholders, after being Rolled-Out nationally during the Lok Sabha Election 2009’’
Communication Plan
• “Communication” is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior. It is the meaningful exchange of information between two or group or person.
• Communication requires a sender, a message, and a recipient.
• “Plan” is typically any diagram or list of steps with timing and resources, used to achieve an objective.
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ISSUES OF CONCERN ON DAY OF POLL
• Proper commencement of poll with mock poll conducted and also presence and absence of polling agents
• Tracking of voting by voters from pre identified vulnerable positions
• Violation of Model Code of Conduct. • Law & Order issues.• Redressal of Complaints.• Obstruction to the poll process due to technical
reasons / EVM malfunctioning and replacement time• Any other significant matters during the poll including
statistical information like poll percentage.• Departure of polling parties after the poll.
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TIMELY INFORMATION IS
STRENGTH
THAT CAN ENSURE QUICK RESPONSE TO
ANY EXIGENCY THAT MAY ARISE.
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THIS REQUIRES
An alert and sensitive
administrative machinery
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BUT THIS ALSO REQUIRES
A
mechanism
to
achieve this goal.
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THE COMMUNICATION PLAN DRAWN UP TO LINK THE FOLLOWING
CHANNELS IN EACH DISTRICT
Polling StationsZonal Officers
Sector Magistrates
Police Stations
Returning Officers
District Election Officers
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ALL OF THEM CONNECTED TO THE
• Chief Electoral Officer
• Election Commission of India
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ALL AVAILABLE MODERN TOOLS OF COMMUNICATION WERE USED
• Mobile Phones
• Landline Phones
• Wireless
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AND NOT SO MODERN
“RUNNER”who could use a motorcycle
oreven a bicycle
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In areas where
wireless had to be used, runners between
the wireless location
and nearest telephone connectivity
were used.
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• The name and telephone number of a neutral, reliable contact person at each polling station.
• The name and telephone number of the nearest police station.
• The name and telephone number of the Zonal Officer.
• The name and telephone number of the Sector Magistrate.
• The identification/ contact of a runner.• Any other possible contacts.
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MP VIDHAN SABHA ELECTIONS POLLING STATION COMMUNICATION PLAN
S.no. D I S TR I CT
NAME
AC No.
AC Name
Polling Station Number
Polling Station Name
NEAREST COMMUNICATON MODE
Land line Phone Mobile No.
Wireless (Y/N)
Nearest Police Station or Police Chowki
STD Code
Phone No.
Name of village where situated
Distance from Polling Station (km)
STD Code
Phone/Mobile No.
Contd….
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MP VIDHAN SABHA ELECTIONS POLLING STATION COMMUNICATION PLAN
OTHER COMMUNICATION MODE
Zonal Officer Sector Magistrate Any other suitable local contact persons/ runners etc. Any other remark or information
Zone Number
Name Phone/ Mobile Number
Sector No.
Name Phone/ Mobile Number
Name of person/ runner(1)
Phone/ Mobile
Name of person/ runner(2)
Phone/ Mobile
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COMMUNICATION TEAMS ALSO ORGANIZED AT THE OFFICES OF
• Returning Officer
• District Election Officer
• Chief Electoral Officer
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District No. & Name :
Officer’s Name Phone Mobile
DEO
DY.DEO
ADM
Addl .Collector
Jt. Collector
Communication Team Leader
Phone Mobile Email Wireless Y/N
Communication Team Members Details
Assembly Constituency No. and Name
Name Phone Mobile Email Wireless Y/N
These are compiled in the following format :
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PrO
SO SO
Comm
unication Inflow
Presiding Officer Booth Level contact person
Sector Officer
Zonal officer
RO Level team-5Each team consisting of a leader and 10 members
District level team consisting of a leader and 5 teams dedicated to each AC
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A Website was created by NIC, based on the following:
Front End based on ASP (Active Server Pages) for Screen Input and Report Output Design.
MS-ACCESS 2000 at the Backend for data storage.
Using UNICODE Fonts.
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The website was put on the www.mp.nic.in server,
Login-Password for all districtsas well as CEO office
were provided for secure log-in.
The report options on these points were also provided
for the districts as well as the CEO-MP office.
Access upto Polling Station Level available to ECI also.
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(Technical)
Attach NIC Main screen
Communication Plan through the Eyes of Lens
Information regarding the mock poll, being delivered by BLO or PrO. ECI has allowed the PrO to have his mobile in the polling station, but in the silent mode
Zonal Officer Collecting the information pertaining to the conduct of mock poll in the polling stations of his zone
Zonal Officer conveying the information to Returning Officer level communication team regarding the mock poll
completion in his zone
Zonal Officer Collecting the Mock Poll Certificate
Returning Officer level Communication team collecting information from Zonal Officers
Returning Officer level Communication team collecting the information from zonal officers and conveying it to District
level Communication team
District Level Communication teams, dedicated for each AC, collecting information from RO level communication team and passing on the
information to State level Communication team via e-mail, fax and phone
District Level Communication team leader, a class I rank officer, acting as a co-ordinator and facilitator between various levels and also interacting with forest and
police department for to and fro movement of information
Information network of Police department
Information Center of Police Department, in constant touch with district level communication teameam
State Level Communication Team
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• While each person assigned to the polling station was responsible for his P.S., each team person at other levels was assigned particular polling stations, areas or districts.
• For information like conduct of mock poll, poll percentages etc, hierarchy was established for movement of information from Booth Level to the CEO office.
• For information regarding Law & Order issues, etc. any one in the channel could be contacted for current status or for giving directions.
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Fixed amount sanctioned
by State Government for each member
of communication team as reimbursement
for Telephone/Mobile calls.
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RESULTS OF COMMUNICATION PLAN
Report of conduct of Mock Poll compiled for entire state and made available to Election Commission of India within one hour of commencement of poll.On the day of poll, all complaints received were quickly verified for correctness.Immediate response to Law & Order issues due to timely receipt of information.EVM replacement. Timely receipt of statistical inputs.
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ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, NEW DELHI
COULD OBTAIN STATUS REPORT FROM
ANY POLLING STATION IN
MADHYA PRADESH THROUGH JUST
A TELEPHONE CALL …….. AND THEY DID.
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THE COMMUNICATION PLAN ALSO UTILISED
ON THE DAY OF COUNTING
AT THE DEO, CEO AND ECI LEVELS.
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SMS & E-MAIL GROUPS
SMS and E-mail were formed
with all Collectors and
officials of CEO office, Bhopal
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BUTTAKE CARE
• Precise questions and crisp answers on the communication network are a must to avoid JAMMING of lines,
• Awareness of shadow areas for mobile network necessary,
• Mobile and Telephone authorities must be taken into confidence to avoid any breakdowns especially in the landline service,
• Adequate number of rehearsals are a must for smooth and efficient working of communication plan
• Try and keep separate phone lines for incoming and outgoing phone calls, where ever possible.
• Ensure that every person in the hierarchy, who is a part of the CP, is fully supplied with all the contact no. and other details of all the related persons above and below him in the CP hierarchy.
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USING MEDIA TO DISSEMINATE INFORMATION
Adequate media coverage of
Communication Plan done to ensure compliance
by officials of instructions
on use of Communication Plan.
Information Dissemination
Often, we are too slow to recognise how much and in what
ways we can assist each other through sharing such expertise and
knowledge- Owen Arthur ( PM of Barbados from 1994 to
2008)
THANKS