ISLAMABAD: Learning from its past experiences, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has stepped up efforts to plug loopholes that allow manipulation and affect fairness, credibility and outcome of elections.

`We are taking a number of steps to make 2018 general elections free, fair and transparent,` ECP`s additional secretary Fida Mohammad told Dawn on Wednesday.

He said that an independent monitoring wing had been set up in the ECP to oversee pre-poll, polling day and post-poll activities and point out illegal practices, including huge spending on electoral exercise and violation of law.

He said that terms of reference of the new wing set up with the available human resources had been prepared and the ECP director general (administration) would head the wing in addition to his routine work.

He, however, said that it was a stopgap arrangement and the ECP had sought 141 new posts and budget fromthe government to set up the wing permanently.

Mr Fida said the ECP`s planning committee, headed by secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, would meet on Friday to review progress so far made on the goals set to make the electoral processes more transparent.

He said that new targets would be given to respective of ficers during the meeting. The additional secretary said that provincial election commissioners would brief the committee on the targets achieved so far.

He said two additional secretaries, four directors general and four provincial election commissioners were members of the committee.

He said a survey of new polling stations and exercise to verify traditional polling stations had been started.

He said the ECP would set up four model warehouses one in each province this month and around 30 such warehouses would be set up across the country. These warehouses, he said, would be used to store election material and record.

The ECP official said that the commission was in the process of trainingits 400 officers in batches and a fiveweek training course had been designed on the pattern of National Institute of Public Policy.

The additional secretary said that the polling staff for 2018 elections would be trained in January that year and they would receive three days` training. He said that lists for the polling staff had been sought from provinces and revealed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had sent a list of 18,000 officials for the purpose more than the number required for polls in KP.

He said the ECP had purchased 64 vehicles and handed them over to district election commissioners, adding that 77 more such vehicles would be procured this year when funds were made available.

The additional secretary said that 10 teams had been formed to monitor the by-election in NA-258 scheduled for November 24. He said the new electronic result management system would be tried in by-elections.

The additional secretary said that electronic voting and biometric verification machines would be procured this year for test run.