This is All India Radio. In the program Spotlight, now we bring you an exclusive interview with V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland on preparedness for free and fair elections. The interviewer is Asuno, AIR correspondent.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

Nagaland will go to a single phase polls on February 27th. We have with us Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland, Mr V Shashank Shekhar.  Welcome Mr Shekhar to All India Radio.

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

Thank you very much

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

Mr Shekhar, with just few days left for Nagaland state to go to polls, how is the overall preparation going on?

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

Overall preparation is going on very well. Our preparation started several months back. Trainings for district election officers, returning officers, polling parties, EVM, nodal officers several rounds of trainings have been held. Another important aspect is the electronic voting machine through which the voters will cast their votes. For machines the first level check was almost done three months back and these machines are already there in the respective districts in the strong rooms and now we are all aware 10th was the last day for withdrawal after which the list of candidates has been finalised. So, the commissioning of the EVMs has also started in the districts. Similarly, for Law and Order also several steps have been taken. The enforcement agencies at the state level as well as central levels are all very active for several weeks now, State Police, Excise and from the central side Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate, Directorate of Revenue intelligence, Narcotics Control Bureau, so many agencies are all working in coordination just to ensure that free and fair election takes place and we have also been in touch with different stakeholders. Meetings have been held with political parties and not only reinforcement agencies but all the administrative machinery, police, the full Election Commission has come to Nagaland, to Kohima and they have also met all different stakeholders and reviewed the full preparedness.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

For this election, how is it going to be different from the previous election?

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

Though every election has its own special features, this time one aspect I would like to mention is about Villages who have come forward voluntarily level meetings and then par resolutions. So the kind of social awareness and we all know the importance of village as a unit in our society. So, these are very positive developments and this is also one very special feature of the election this time.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

So. what are the security measures been initiated in the state for violence-free and inducement-free fair elections. Also what are the security measures being taken up in the villages especially in the border areas.

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

A lot of measures have been taken in the past and this elections also we are taking. In addition to the State Police, the Nagaland armed police, District Police and the IRB which in any case are deployed and are fully involved with the elections. In addition to that for maintenance of Law and Order the election Commissioners deployed 305 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, 75 of those companies have already come in January itself on Advanced deployment and the rest will also be coming to our state very shortly. So these, plus all these Central agencies which I mentioned about are also keeping a close watch on any kind of electoral malpractices. For borders we have Interstate borders as well as international border with Myanmar so for Interstate borders also interactions are taking place at various levels, District levels irrespective Deputy Commissioners and superintendents of police are having regular meetings with their counterparts in the neighbouring states, Assam, Arunachal, Manipur also we have borders and at the state level also we are in touch and the commission has also held a meeting where Chief secretary's, DGP, CEOs of all the neighbouring states were also present and for international boundary we know the Border guarding force is the Assam rifle so the commissioner has also issued instructions that they should also keep a close watch so various aspects various measures are being taken to ensure that even in the boundaries whether it is Interstate or International boundaries all Law and Order is maintained and no kind of malpractice happens for the elections.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

What are the new innovative initiatives that one can witness?

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

What happened at the society level itself which I mentioned, the villages have come forward, then from the enforcement side also we have tried to be more proactive to ensure that no malpractice takes place. So many of us may be aware that not only income tax has set up a camp office in Kohima and the control room in Dimapur which they have done in early elections also and they have deployed District level teams also in all the districts. In addition to that enforcement directorators also set up a camp office in Kohima which is for the first time it has happened. Similarly, directorate of Revenue intelligence has set up a camp office in Dimapur which is also for the first time the advanced deployment of CAPFs also which has taken place is comparatively larger in number. Plus, things which we do in the past also all women polling booths have been set up, 369 such polling stations are there where the entire polling team will be women polling personnel only. Similarly, three persons with disabilities polling stations are being set up. So, these are different ways and we have also tried many voters awareness programs to spread this message. Recently, a workshop was held by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting where they have brought in private registered troops from Manipur and these troops are going to different districts and through their performances they will send the message about free and fair election and they'll be going to different districts Villages of towns.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

So, is there any pool in both identified as sensitive, hypersensitive or critical in any parts of the state?

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

Yes, this exercise has been done some weeks back where the district level administration DC’s and the superintendent of police they coordinate and they identify critical vulnerable polling booths. So, those lists come to us from the districts then we also analyze and we in coordination with the police we list out so we have the numbers but these numbers are also dynamic there are laid down criteria for instance if any polling booth has a vast history of any violence or if in the past election more than 75 percent voting has taken place and within that also if more than 75 percent has gone in favor of one particular candidate then such polling booths we do the analysis and they are automatically identified as critical polling booths. So, that exercise has been done we have approximately 700 plus vulnerable identified. Similarly, 700 plus critical polling stations which have already been identified and the rest are normal as of now but as I said it is still dynamic in the coming days if some incident happens or if any situation arises this reclassification can also take place.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

You have mentioned about the awareness campaign. How effective has SWEEP campaign been in sensitizing the masses.

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

We feel the SWEEP campaign has had a very wide reach. So measures have been taken at state level also and at the district level also these programs are run throughout the year and especially in view of elections past few weeks and months more intensive programs have been run. So, this happens in different ways some districts have had essay competitions where young voters have come forward and participated actively in essay competitions, there have been song competitions, some have organised other kinds of programs, we have also produced a video recently which we launched and which has had a lot of views. Similarly some districts have also done that and we also involve our SWEEP icons to propagate this message of active participation of the voters and then we have run print advertisements also. In addition to meetings with different stakeholders. So it's a multi-dimensional activity and I'm sure it has its own impact in a positive manner.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

Taking into consideration the geographical situation in our state, also many villages been located in the border areas. How are the election missionaries extending all possible services to reach the unreached leaving no voters behind?

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

This is a very important aspect which you mentioned, no voter to be left behind and in our state we have 2315 polling booths and as you mentioned some of them are geographically comparatively remote but it is also a reflection of the spirit of our entire machinery, and the entire society itself. So, it is a very positive aspect and reflects the positive spirit of society as of all that to all these 2315 polling booths our polling parties will reach and it has happened in the past also that smoothly inspite of any geographical constraints every polling booth, even in the remotest village of the state these polling parties have reached and they have ensured that every eligible voter who desires to cast his vote is given that opportunity. So, it is a very enthusiastic spirit of our entire Machinery especially the polling parties and the District administration, the security Personnel who accompany them and as I said it's only with the overall participation of society as a whole that such a complex logistical arrangement of reaching out to every single virtually has been happen.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

There has been incidents of proxy voters in Nagaland quite some time now, so what are the steps taken by the election office to ensure that no proxies voting takes place?

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

This proxy vote thing is certainly an area of concern and it is a multi-dimensional effort to stop any kind of proxy voting. So, one is the awareness programs where we try to sensitize the voters themselves to be very careful in the National voters Day program in which we had two young voters at spoken and one of them had also expressed her views about proxy voting and she had also said that this is something which should not happen. So, these are also forums where awareness is spread about the need for a proper and free and fair election to happen. So more such awareness programs are held from the administrative side in our various training programs also we emphasize to the polling parties and the administrative Machinery, the sector officer, sector magistrates to be very careful and prevent any kind of proxy voting or even other malpractices. Then we also reach out to stakeholders, we hold regular meetings with political parties also for instance. So, through these different measures the entire election machinery tries its best to stop proxy voting and any other kind of malpractice also.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

We have over 13 lakhs eligible voters in state and because we have senior citizens as well as the persons with disabilities. So, what are the facilities provided for the senior citizens and PWDs.

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

The commission and the entire election machine is very sensitive to the needs of senior citizens and persons with disabilities and over the years the arrangements being made have also become more elaborate and this emphasis on providing support to the more vulnerable sections of our societies also positive reflection of overall concern in society itself to take care of those who need support. So, in our arrangements it reflects in in all the polling booths we provide through the election commissions overall supervision that certain minimum facilities should be available in all the polling booths. So, instructions have been issued to the district level also and this is closely monitored at all levels directly at least facilities like water, toilets and for the disabled person's ramp should be available, then wheelchairs are provided as required, there are volunteers who can assist PWD voters as they come to vote and a very special facility which has been provided is that those with above Benchmark visibility and 80 plus forecast, they are given this option where our teams will actually come to their homes and then take the vote in their residence itself. This also is a very huge logistical arrangement but all this is done again to ensure that no voter is left behind.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

We have seen earlier that women personals and PWDs will be men in the polling stations so in what ways are the women personals and PWD going to assist for the contact of this election.

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

Yes, we have planned throughout this day 369 all women polling booths where the entire polling party will be women including the presiding officers and there are three such polling stations where PWDs will be managing the polling station as entire polling team. So, this shows the active involvement of women and PWD citizens also in the arrangements for the election and women are also involved at all levels not only in the polling parties but you will see them in the administration, in the police, in the media so they're all important stakeholders and they contribute in a very very important manner to entire election process.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

As CEO what is your observation on voters turn out in Nagaland.

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

Our voter turnout has traditionally been quite high, it has always been more than 80 percent, so this is a very positive sign. The active involvement of people at the same time it also has to be balanced by the need and the concerns expressed  as I mentioned  an example on the one young voter who had expressed this concern about proxy voting so the whole society as  whole and all stakeholders have to come together and show both these things, one is our voting percentage should go higher ideally it should be 100 percent we can aim for at the same time it has to be balanced that it is totally clean in the sense there is no proxy voting and only the genuine vote has come forward and cast their votes.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

Any word of encouragement to the people of the state to come forward and participate in the Democratic process?

V Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

I've often said that Society in Nagaland is inherently Democratic, we respect different views, we give space to everyone to express their views and this inherent democratic tradition should also get reflected in our election process. So, this true spirit of democracy, all of us should endeavor to build on that Foundation which is already there and I'm very hopeful and very sure that this will happen that we'll have a free and fair election without any violence and the true Spirit of democracy will get reflected.

Asuno, AIR correspondent:

Thank you Mr Shekhar for your time and highlighting us about the elections scenario in our state

Shashank Shekhar, Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland:

Thank you very much

This program was produced and presented by the News Services Division of All India Radio

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