Chief Electoral Officer Himachal Pradesh Manish Garg while presiding over a media workshop here today said that the media acts as a catalyst in the delivery of free and fair elections and has always played a pivotal role during the elections in the State and it is expected the same of it during the elections top Lok Sabha.
He said that the election commission has made provisions to confer National Media Award for Voter Education. Deliberations were held in detail on does and dont’s and on paid/fake news and advertisements issued by political parties during the workshop.
Manish Garg said that Media Certification and Monitoring Committees have been formed at the state and district level to monitor advertisements in electronic media and print media by political parties. The content of advertisements issued or displayed on radio etc. can be approved.
Apart from this, pre-certification of advertisements to be issued in print media on the day of elections and a day before will be mandatory. The MCMC committees will also take action on the complaints or cases related to paid news and if the case of paid news is verified then its expense will be added to the election expenditure of the candidate, and will also be reported to the Press Council of India through the commission.
He also informed that the Commission has made provisions for establishing media centers at state and district level for the convenience of media personnel. Besides this the commission has also allocated free air time to political parties by public broadcasters on the basis of past performance and passes for counting centres and for polling stations.
He also addressed the queries of the media persons regarding issues of election coverage, sections prohibiting conduct of exit polls, dissemination of results as per the parameters laid down by the Election Commission of India with respect to advertisements in print, electronic and social media.
A detailed presentation was given on the role of media during the Model Code of Conduct. He said that the secrecy of voting should not be violated. Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dalip Negi, Master trainer Munshi Sharma and representatives of print and electronic media participated in the workshop.
National Media Award For Voter Education: Combatting Paid And Fake News
Nurturing Creativity – Keekli Charitable Trust, Shimla
