Special Expenditure Observers

News:Election commission of India has appointed former IRS officers as special expenditure observers for Maharashtra polls.

Facts:

About Special Expenditure observers:

• The Special Expenditure Observers are appointed by the EC under the powers conferred under Article 324 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• The special observers will be supervising and monitoring the work being done by the electoral machinery.
• The observers will also watch the conduct of Elections with special emphasis on controlling the abuse of money power, in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer at respective constituencies.
• They will also ensure stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken based on intelligence inputs and complaints received through C-VIGIL and Voter Helpline.

Additional information:

About RPA Act,1951:

• The Representation of the People Act,1951 is an act of Parliament of India.
• The act provides (a)the conduct of elections of the Houses of Parliament and the House of the Legislature of each State (b)the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses and (c)the corrupt practices,decisions,doubts and disputes arising in connection with such elections.

Election commission:

• The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India.
• The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution under Article 324 and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act,1951.
• The EC administers elections to the (a)Lok Sabha (b)Rajya Sabha (c)state Legislative Assemblies (d)state legislative Councils and the (e)offices of the President and Vice President of the country.

C-VIGIL:

• Election Commission of India had launched a mobile application named ‘C-vigil.
• The app allows citizens to report on violation of Model code of conduct.It is operational only where elections are announced.
• Election observers will also be able to see all the complaints by citizens through C-vigil and take action in real time in their area of jurisdiction.