Elections 2019: Govt officials suspended over lapses during voter awareness programme

Sundergarh: Issuing a stern warning to officials, Sundergarh Collector Surendra Meena on Saturday suspended two government officials for their alleged dereliction of duty.

As per reports, Additional Block Education Officer (BEO), Bisra, Sarat Kumar Pati and Vedavyasa UP School Headmaster Bibekananda Das were suspended for allegedly showing laxity in work during Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) awareness programme in the district.

Meena informed that allegations of lapses by Pati and Das during the EVM and VVPAT awareness programme surfaced following which they were suspended.

"I came to know that they put the EVM machines on road for demonstration. So, I suspended the two officials of education department," said Meena.

As the VVPAT machines will be used in Odisha for the first time during the upcoming 2019 elections, the Election Commission is reportedly conducting mock polls along with EVM and VVPAT awareness programmes in villages across the State.

Earlier, VVPAT machines were used during the Bijepur bypoll in the State in February 2018.