The Election Commission of India shortlisted as many as 54 IAS officers across Rajasthan and gave them additional duties as election observers ahead of the Lok Sabha polls 2024, out of which, 11 IAS officers shall be posted during the first phase of polling on April 19. The ECI also mentioned how the concerned bureaucrats had completed their first-phase training and had been gearing up for phase-wise election duties.
Some of the officers are Mr. Dinesh Kumar (2017 batch, Tamil Nadu), Mr. P. Ramesh (Nagaland), Mr. Himanshu Gupta (2012 batch, Tamil Nadu), Mr. Naveen Mahajan (1997 batch, Arunachal Pradesh), Mr. Rajendra Verma (2010 batch, Tamil Nadu), Mr. MP Meena (Tamil Nadu), Mr. Ravi Jain (2019 batch, Uttar Pradesh), Mr. Ravi Kumar Surpur (2004 batch, West Bengal), Mr. Kunji Lal Meena (1995 batch, Uttarakhand), Mr. Mukul Sharma (2013 batch, Meghalaya), and Mr. Piyush Samaria (2014 batch, Uttarakhand).
All these officials have been asked to stay at their duty stations for 27 days (from March 26 to April 21), starting from the last day of filing nominations until repolling. Similarly, those officials who shall assume election duty for the 2nd phase until the 7th phase will have to be posted approximately for one month following which they must return for counting on June 4 (for 2 to 4 days) to their respective areas of duty.
Following the officers’ call to electoral duty, they are being temporarily substituted by other officers. Mr. Sunil Sharma (1990 batch officer) was given additional charge of Commissioner in the Department of Industries, while Mr. Mahesh Chandra Sharma (2007 batch IAS) assumed additional charge of IG, Stamps and Registration. Mr. KK Pathak (1990 batch IAS), an incumbent secretary in Finance, was given additional charge of CCT replacing Mr. Ravi Kumar Surpur.
