The Nilgiris district Collector M. Aruna opened the election control room and the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) centre in Udhagamandalam on Monday in preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The district administration said Ms. Aruna inspected the control room and MCMC centre while also ensuring that the cameras fixed to the vehicles of flying squads in the district were operational.
She also tracked the locations of flying squads across the district at the control room. Ms. Aruna analysed programming as well as advertisements being played on television channels at the centre.
The Collector told reporters the Nilgiris district had four inter-State border checkposts and 12 inter-district border checkposts that were being manned by the Nilgiris district police. She said CCTV cameras had been installed at the checkposts and were being constantly monitored.
A total of ₹21.11 lakh in unaccounted money had been seized in the Nilgiris till March 17. She cautioned residents bringing in more than ₹50,000 in cash to bring supporting documents as proof to avoid seizure by flying squad personnel.
On the flying squads, Ms. Aruna said nine squads had been posted in the Nilgiris, with cars of the flying squad members being fixed with cameras and GPS devices to monitor their locations at all times.
Residents wanting to contact the election control room to report any model code of conduct violations can do so by calling the following numbers, the district administration said. The control room can be reached at 0423-2957101, 0423-2957102, 0423-2957103, 0423-2957104 as well through their toll-free number, 1800-425-2782.