Caveat………..We are not

• lecturer• More important than everyone else• Necessarily an expert• The centre of attention• An arbiter

2

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