BHUBANESWAR: The State Election Commission has raised the limit of poll expenditure for the ensuing panchayati raj elections which is due in February. The expenditure limit, according to SEC sources, has been doubled. For gram panchayat member, the expenditure ceiling has been raised from Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 and similar has been the limit for block level member. For the zilla parishad member, the poll expenditure has been raised to Rs 1.5 lakh from the existing Rs 75,000.The raise in the expenditure ceiling is expected to bring in more transparency in the spendings by the political parties.The SEC which held an all party meeting as part of its preparation for the panchayat polls also announced that electronic voting machines will not be used for polling this time. Ballots will be used and photo IDs will have to be produced by the voters.The Commission had earlier announced that caste certificate is a must for the reserve category candidates during filing of nomination forms. This has been done to eliminate fraudulent practices by unscrupulous elements . As per announcement of the State Government, half the seats will be reserved for women candidates.
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