An EC meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) MA Aziz decided to amend some provisions in the existing policy and to introduce a provision of punishment for observers in cases of gross violations of the policy for observing the polls during the next general election, sources said.

The decision came in wake of a widespread controversy about the neutrality of the organisations which have already started lobbying to become authorised to observe the next election.

The EC's policy on poll observation was formulated just before the October 2001 general election. Before the formulation of the policy, there was no legal framework for observing the polls.

The number of poll observers in October 2001 parliamentary election increased by five times compared to the seventh parliamentary election held in June 1996.

Sixty eight organisations deployed as many as 2,18,006 observers during the October 2001 election while the total number of observers was only 40,000 during June 1996 election, sources said.

Some of the organisations took blank identity cards for observers from the EC and deployed students of schools and colleges to observe the October 2001 election violating a policy that requires an observer to be at least 25 years old.

Only 18 organisations submitted observation reports to the EC after the election while others ignored the EC's directive to submit their reports.

Sensing a trend of an increase in the number of poll observers and observing recent activities of some organisations in pursuit of becoming observers, the EC fears the number is likely to shoot up in the next parliamentary election.

"The policy on poll observers will be made stricter so that the number of observers does not shoot up and cannot create troubles at polling stations," the EC meeting documents say.

"We will also ask the intelligence agencies and deputy commissioners to inquire about the neutrality of the organisations which will apply to observe the election," EC Secretary Abdur Rashid Sarkar told reporters after the meeting.

"We will not allow any organisation to observe the polls if its neutrality is questioned by field level inquiry reports," the secretary said adding, "an organisation will be declared disqualified to observe two consecutive parliamentary elections in case of gross violation of the policy."

Once the provisions are amended, poll observing bodies will have to follow some rules to have permissions to observe the election. They will have to apply to be authorised to observe the polls at least four weeks before the election instead of the existing provision of three weeks. Each of the observers' particulars will have to be submitted to the EC with the prescribed application form to be designed by the commission, sources said.

Organisations seeking permissions to become field level observers will have to prove that all their observers are 25 years old by submitting copies of their secondary school certificates, and references from two eminent persons of the society will have to be attached to the application of each aspiring observer.

The organisations will have to have pertinent experiences of three years since their registrations with the statutory authority.

None of the organisations can make any statement or hold press conference about the polls before the primary announcement of election results by returning officers, sources said referring to the EC's decision.

About the controversial move by Asia Foundation that formed an Election Working Group (EWG) comprising 35 NGOs, the EC secretary said they do not know anything about it. "We will examine the issue when they will apply to us for permissions to observe the polls," Rashid Sarkar said.

In the last election 215 foreign observers from 32 countries observed the polls and only seven foreign organisations submitted their reports.