Hans News Service Anantapur

DistrictCollector and District Election Officer O Anand, IAS, directed administration officials on Tuesday to act with complete impartiality and strict adherence to rules during the upcoming nomination process for the 2nd General Elections to Gram Panchayats (2026). Addressing a district-level training program for Stage-1 Returning Officers, MPDOs, Deputy MPDOs, Zonal Officers, and Master Trainers at the Revenue Building in the Anantapur Collectorate, Collector Anand emphasized the need to execute election duties seamlessly.

Conducted under the guidance of retired Deputy Collector Govindarajulu and District Panchayat Officer (DPO) Nagaraju Naidu, the workshop briefed officers on statutory procedures following the issuance of poll notifications.

Collector Anand highlighted that Stage-1 Returning Officers carry vital responsibilities, including publishing notifications in respective Gram Panchayats, accepting and scrutinizing nomination papers, finalizing eligible candidates, and allocating election symbols. Noting that administrative complications had surfaced during the nomination process of previous MPTC and ZPTC elections, the Collector instructed returning officers to exercise extreme caution and maintain absolute neutrality. He emphasized that any operational disputes during nomination filing must be resolved fairly and transparently to ensure a zero-grievance process.

He warned officials that any procedural lapse or bias would be viewed seriously by the election authority, instructing officers to ensure smooth, rule-bound execution across all mandals.

The training session was attended by Divisional Development Officers (DDOs) from Kalyandurg, Anantapur, and Guntakal, alongside mandal-level charge officers, zonal officers, and master trainers from across the district.