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CEC Sunil Arora will meet former heads of Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on Friday to discuss ways to keep a check on black money disbursements in South India, especially Tamil Nadu.
The Election Commission of India has appointed a special panel to check on illegal money flow in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Called the multi-department committee on election intelligence, the panel will have the participation of heads of all financial agencies, including Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman PC Mody; Central Board of Indirect Taxes chairman Pranab Kumar Das; Enforcement Directorate director Sanjay Kumar Mishra; DG, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Devi Prasad Dash; Central Economic Intelligence Bureau director general Mitali Madhusmita; and Financial Intelligence Unit head Pankaj Kumar Mishra.
Two retired bank chairmen of nationalised banks have also been taken as consultants to the poll panel to curb cash deposits in banks during the polling period.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora will meet former heads of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on Friday to discuss ways to keep a check on black money disbursements in South India, especially Tamil Nadu.
Two other Election Commissioners will also be present at the meeting, to be held in New Delhi’s Hotel Ashoka.
"We are confident that new regulations will be in place," a senior EC official told this correspondent.
The focus of the meeting, the first of its kind, is to keep a check on cash distribution in South India, especially the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Cash distribution during poll campaign in Tamil Nadu is a major concern for the Election Commission, especially the handing out of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 bank notes.
Observers of previous elections in Tamil Nadu have presented their reports on the issue.
Based on this, the Election Commission on Friday will deliberate on what needs to be done to tackle the menace.
"We have taken serious note of this menace in Tamil Nadu. We shall arrive at a concrete action plan," Arora told Rediff.com.
Three former chairmen of CBDT and CBITC have accepted their appointment as consultants to the Election Commission to check black money distribution and illegal transfers of cash during polling days.
They will visit Tamil Nadu in the first week of April.
The EC has also directed CCTV cameras near major crossings and district borders to keep a watch on suspicious vehicular movement.
It will also monitor four-wheeler movements to check on cash transportation.