LAHORE, Jan 26: The City District Government of Lahore on Saturday gave a go-ahead to set up a District Election Preparatory Cell (DEPC) by the first week of February to logistically assist/facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in holding the general election.

The decision was taken after the ECP formally conveyed to all district election offices and city district/district administrations to jointly devise a strategy to complete necessary arrangements prior to the elections.

“Prior to a formal announcement about holding the elections, we need to verify as many as 50,000 new voters inducted into the existing constituency-wise voter lists of the provincial metropolis. For this purpose, we need services of a number of district education department staff members to assist the officials concerned in completing such a big and important assignment,” District Election Officer (DEO) Syed Shabbar Raza said in a meeting presided over by CDGL Administrator/DCO Noorul Amin Mengal.

The DEO said the CDGL’s departments concerned, including the education wing, were required to arrange as many as 35,000 staffers to be appointed as polling officers, assistant polling officers, presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and assistant returning officers in 25 provincial and 13 National Assembly constituencies of the district.

“Besides these, we will also require a sufficient number of vehicles to transport the officials to verify voter lists before polls and those to be appointed at polling stations during elections,” he added.

He said the ECP in the light of an apex court verdict had decided to appoint district and sessions judges as district returning officers (DROs) and additional district and sessions judges as assistant returning officers (AROs). He said previously civil judges were supposed to be appointed returning officers (ROs), but the court had asked the ECP to appoint officers of education or other departments concerned instead, he explained.

“Though we are ready to render full support, but we will be unable to depute our staff for list verification by the end of February keeping in view annual exams, mainly of class 5 and 8 until Feb 15. Besides exams, teachers have to prepare the results of other classes until February-end. So we will hand over our staff to the DEO by the first week of March,” EDO (Education) Pervaiz Ahmad told the participants.

Some participants also sought appointment of computer operators for maintaining election-related data before the elections.

The DEO urged the DCO and the EDO to chalk out a plan for initiating training (capacity building) of staff members on electoral process by the first week of March.

He said as the Supreme Court had sought increasing number of polling stations within two-kilometre radius, the ECP had enhanced the number of polling stations in Lahore.

He said there should also be a district control room to coordinate all election-related matters with the DROs, AROs, ROs and other officers to be deputed at the polling stations.

The DCO directed senior officials to constitute and notify the DEPC by the first week of next month besides finalising the arrangements for around 40,000 staffers to perform election duties.

“The officials should finalise the lists of staff in this regard by Feb 10 in order to be discussed in the next meeting,” he said. He also appointed the assistant director (local government) and the admin officer (conducting) as focal persons to coordinate with the DEO and the ECP on logistics.

He also directed the EDO (finance) to prepare the estimated budget required for logistic arrangements. He asked the DO (coordination) to start working on a control room in this regard.

BUTCHERS: The CDGL directed the Allama Iqbal Town Administration to take notice of complaints of butchers at Shahpur Kanjran and eliminate middlemen in sale/purchase and slaughtering of animals.

According to a spokesman, the CDGL administrator also sought registration of cases against unidentified men for looting animal traders.

The CDGL also directed the administration and other officials concerned to complete file work for developing the Jinnah Truck Terminal at Sundar.