The Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya has called for a list of all vehicles in the possession of state institutions and ministries within two weeks to be deployed for election duties throughout the country.
He has notified the heads of state institutions through a circular to provide him with this list within two weeks.
The circular has been sent to ministry secretaries, Divisional Secretaries, departmental heads, LG institution heads and heads of State Corporations and Statutory Boards.
It is also required to provide details of vehicles that have been leased.
He also noted that complaints have been received that in some state institutions the details of such vehicles have not been maintained.
During the next election, in the event such a complaint is received, immediate investigations would be carried out and appropriate action would be taken, he warned.
All heads of boards should provide details of all vehicles provided to their officers and also details of all vehicles provided to their branch offices.
The district returning officer will only grant permission for officers who have been provided official vehicles to use them for election duty purposes.
All other officers should not use vehicles in their office pool for election duty purposes.
The Election Commissioner noted that all state institution heads should definitely provide details of all vehicles in their pool in order to ensure that these vehicles are not being misused.
(Mirror)