Public (Elections) Department Secretariat Government of Tamil Nadu Office of the Chief Electoral Officer Publication under Section 4(1) of The Right to Information Act, 2005 CHENNAI – 600 009 2006 PUBLICATION UNDER RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005 S.No Chapter Page No 1. Introduction 1-3 2. Particulars of Organisation, functions and 4-13 duties 3. Procedure followed in decision-making 14-25 process including channels of supervision and accountability & the norms set for discharge of functions 4. Election as President/ Vice President 26 5. Disqualifications for Members of Parliament 27-34 and State Legislatures 6. Nomination of candidate 35 7. District Election officers Phone Numbers / 36-37 Fax Numbers and the list of Returning Officers for the Parliamentary Constituencies 8. List of Returning officers for assembly 38-46 constituencies of Tamil Nadu 9. Designation and office phone numbers of all 47 officers in the Election Department 10. District Election Officers Phone Numbers / 48 Fax Numbers 11. List of elected members of 13th Tamil Nadu 49-58 Legislative Assembly, 2006 12. Rules, Regulations, Instruction, Manuals 59-60 and Records for Discharging Functions 13. A Statement of the categories of documents 61 that are held by it under its control 14. Monthly remuneration received by each of 62 the officers and employees of the office of Chief Electoral Officer 15. Budget Allocation 63 16. Other information as may be prescribed 64-67 INFORMATION HAND BOOK UNDER SECTION 4(I) OF THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005 Introduction 1.1. Background, objective and purpose of this Hand Book The Right to Information Act, 2005 (Central Act 22 of 2005) has been enacted to provide for setting out a practical regime of the right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the Control of Public Authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every Public Authority. This publication under section 4(1) of the Right to Information Act sets out the obligations of public authorities concerned with electoral administration. 1.2. Intended users of this book Members of public, political parties, officers and staff concerned with electoral administration will be the users of this Hand Book. 1.3. Organisation of the Information The organization of the information in this Hand Book is given chapter-wise in the index. 1.4. Contact person Public Information Officer, i.e. Joint / Deputy Chief Electoral Officer & Joint / Deputy Secretary to Government and Assistant Public Information Officer, i.e. Assistant Chief Electoral Officer & Under Secretary to Government Public (Elections) Department, Secretariat, Chennai-9. 1.5. Procedure and Fee Structure for getting information (G.O. Ms. No.989, Public (Estt.I & Leg.) Department, dated: 07-10-2005) 1 (a) Every application for obtaining information under sub-section (1) of the section 6 of the Act shall be accompanied by an application fee of Rs.50/- by way of cash or Demand Draft or Bankers Cheque payable in the head of account “0075 00 – Miscellaneous General Services – 800. Other receipts – BK. Collection of fees under Tamil Nadu Right to Information (Fees) Rules, 2005” (DPC 0075 00 800 BK 0006). The applicant may also remit the fee under the above head of account in the Treasury / Pay & Accounts Office / State Bank of India / Reserve Bank of India and produce the chalan to the Public Information Officer as an evidence for having remitted the fee. (b) For providing the information under sub-section (1) of Section 7 of the Act, a fee shall be charged by way of cash against proper receipt or by Demand Draft or Bankers Cheque payable in the above head of account, at the following rates:- i) Rupees two for each page (in A-4 or A-3 size paper) created or copied; ii) Actual charge or cost price of a copy in larger size paper; iii) Actual cost or price for samples or models; and iv) For inspection of records, no fee for the first hour, and a fee of rupees five for each fifteen minutes (or fraction thereof) thereafter. (c) For providing the information under sub-section (5) of Section 7, the fee shall be charged by way of cash against proper receipt or by Demand Draft or Bankers Cheque payable in the above head of account, at the following rates – 2 i) for information provided in diskette or floppy Rs.50/- per diskette or floppy; and ii) for information provided in printed form, at the price fixed for publication. Persons below the poverty line are exempted from the payment of fee mentioned in the above para for seeking information under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The list of persons below the poverty line as approved by the Gram Panchayat and Local Bodies will be the basis for claiming the concessions and the certified extract of the list will be sufficient to avail this concession. 3 Particulars of Organization, functions and duties 1. Name & Address Public (Elections) Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, Secretariat, Chennai-600 009 under the Chief Electoral Officer and Secretary to Government, Public (Elections) Department. 2. Legal standing and creation Under Article 324 of the Constitution the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the parliament and to the Legislative of every State and the elections to the offices of President & Vice-President are vested in the Election Commission which consists of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. At the state level, the election work is supervised subject to the superintendence, direction and control of the Election Commission, by the Chief Electoral Officer (appointed by the Election Commission) and the officers and staff working under him. The Chief Electoral Officer is normally appointed from All India Service in the cadre of Secretary & above. Chief Electoral Officer is, therefore, designated as Chief Electoral Officer and Secretary to Government, Public (Elections) Department. Field administration at the district level is run by the District Election Officers (DEOs) (generally the Collectors or District Magistrates; in the case of Chennai, the Commissioner of the Corporation), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) & AEROs (for preparation & maintenance of electoral rolls) (generally officers in the level of 4 Sub-Divisional Magistrates), Returning Officers (ROs) & AROs (for conduct of elections) and other officials (like Personal Assistant (Elections) to the Collectors, Presiding and Polling officers) appointed for the conduct of elections. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer was set up in Tamil Nadu before the first general elections in independent India in 1952 , in accordance with Section 13A of the Representation of People Act, 1950, for carrying out the following: 3. Functions and duties (i)Conduct of elections/bye-elections to • the 234 Assembly Constituencies in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly • the 39 Lok Sabha seats allocated to Tamil Nadu Note : These two elections are direct elections where the people of the country directly participate. • the 18 Rajya Sabha seats allocated to Tamil Nadu • the office of the President of India • the office of the Vice-President of India Note : The elections to these offices are indirect elections through their elected representative in Parliament and in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. (ii) It is the duty of all election related officers to ensure that the elections are conducted in a free and fair manner and in accordance with all relevant Acts, Rules and executive directions of the Election Commission of India. (iii) Preparation of an error free electoral roll 5 4. Structure 4(a). General Structure. National Level Election Commission of India State Level Chief Electoral Officer’s Office / Public (Elections) Department District Election Officer (DEO) (District Collector except for Chennai where the Commissioner, Corporation is the District Election Officer Electoral Conduct of Rolls / EPIC Elections Electoral Registration Officer Returning Officer Returning Officer for Parliamentary Constituencies for Assembly Constituencies (RDO/ Commissioners of Corporation / in case of Chennai, Zonal – District Collector / DRO – Dy Collector (including Officers Sub-Collector & Assistant Collector in the IAS cadre) & Dy Collector rank officer AERO AROs AROs (Assistant Electoral Registration Officer) R.Os for Assembly Constituency viz., Taluk Tahsildars/ (Tahsildar / Assistant Commissioner of Officers in the cadre of Deputy Collectors Corporations, Municipal Commissioners / Assistant Collectors / Sub- Collectors BDOs/ Municipal In case of Chennai, Asst Revenue Commissioners Officer) 4(b) Structure of the State Level Department Chief Electoral Officer and Secretary to Government, Public (Elections) Department Joint Chief Electoral Officers and Joint Secretary to Government (3 officers in this level) Assistant Chief Electoral Officer and Under Secretary to Government (one officer) Section Officers ( 6 permanent and 2/3 additional Section Officers during conduct of elections) Assistant Section Officers (on an average 2 per section) 4 (c) Structure at the District level All District Election Officers, Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers are notified by Election Commission of India in consultation with the State Government. District Election Officers 30 in number (29 District Collectors and Chennai Corporation Commissioner) P.A.Elections temporarily created for elections in 29 districts DRO (Elections) only in the case of Chennai Election Tahsildars