Jaipur: State Election Commission (SEC) has tightened the procedure for seeking clarification or relaxation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) imposed for the urban local body elections. SEC Thursday directed all departments to route such cases through chief secretary and not approach it directly. Now, such cases can be referred to SEC only after approval at chief secretary level.SEC announced general elections to all 309 urban local bodies(ULBs) in the state Wednesday. With the announcement, MCC came into force in the areas covered by ULBs.The chief secretary has been urged to ensure that requests are examined in accordance with the instructions issued by SEC from time to time on the implementation of MCC. Only those cases found fit for relaxation or permission are to be sent to the commission.SEC has also directed departments to attach their clear comments when forwarding original files to CS office for consideration. This, it said, would ensure that the cases being referred are properly examined at departmental level before being sent for further consideration. The departments have additionally been instructed to factor in the time required for disposal of such cases. Where a specific deadline has been prescribed, the concerned department must ensure that the case reaches CS at least seven days in advance.The polling will be held in two phases on Sept 9 and 11 and counting will take place on Sept 14.
