PANJIM: Former Joint Chief Electoral Officer Narayan Navti, who had earlier given his consent to be the Goa State Election Commissioner (SEC) on Monday backed out due to lack of requisite experience of 20 years in civil service.
The Goa government had earlier recommended his name for the GSEC post and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had also given his consent to Navti’s appointment.
However, on Monday, Navti requested the State government not to appoint him as SEC since he did not have the requisite experience of 20 years in the civil service. He stated that he had 18 years of experience in the civil service, which is two less than the required.
To be qualified for appointment of State Election Commissioner, the candidate has to be an all-India service or in service of the State in the civil services for not less than 20 years and also possess knowledge and experience relating to elections.
There are reports that the names of three former officers – N Mihir Vardhan, Arun Desai and Daulat Hawaldar – are being considered by the State government for the GSEC post.
The appointment to the GSEC post was necessitated after Secretary (Law) Chokha Ram Garg, stepped down following the Supreme Court ruling of March 12 that persons holding government office should not be appointed as State Election Commissioner and that its independence cannot be compromised.
According to information available, the government held talks with Vardhan, IAS (AGMUT 2003), who has vast knowledge of elections and was instrumental in implementing the Poll Monitoring System (PMS) during 2012 Goa Assembly polls, and also won the national e-governance award.
In September last year, Vardhan was transferred from Lakshadweep to Goa and has now been posted as Secretary to the Goa Governor.
Former IAS officer D A Hawaldar, who retired in August last year is currently heading the Staff Selection Commission and has also been appointed as liquidator for The Mapusa Urban Co-operation Bank Limited, whose licence was cancelled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April 2019.
