2,329 polling parties dispatched to booths

Our Correspondent
Jalandhar, May 18

As many as 2,329 polling parties, along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and other election material, have been dispatched to 1,863 polling booths in the district.

Around 23,000 employees from the civil and police departments who have been assigned various duties for conducting the poll in a free, fair and transparent manner, gathered at their respective dispatch centre set up at nine venues in the district at about 9 am.

At the Raizada Hansraj Stadium, KMV College and Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women dispatch centres, the polling staff rued mismanagement. A government teacher who has been deputed as Polling Officer (PO) at Raizada Stadium, pleading anonymity, said: “The lists of polling staff in which the party and booth numbers were mentioned was confusing. The majority of the staff till 3 pm has no idea about their party and booth number. No provision for clean toilets has been made.”

The polling staff also complained of poor quality food served to them. A master cadre teacher, said: “This is the second time that I have been assigned election duty. There is usually a lot of chaos at the dispatch centres regarding the booth and party number. The food served is never of good quality.”

“Though the Election Commission of India (ECI) has sent separate funds for the food and accommodation for the polling staff, still no proper arrangements have been made,” added the teacher.

Some polling staff alleged that the food served was brought from the community kitchens of the gurudwaras, while a number of staff also managed to order their food online or buy them from nearby food outlets.

When contacted, Pinki Devi, the District Nodal Officer, said: “All arrangements were up to the mark, and she had personally visited the dispatch centres.”

She said the polling staff was asked about the arrangements and they made no complaints. They were satisfied with the food too. For the cleanliness of washrooms, a check would be made and the necessary steps would be taken to maintain hygiene at the booths.

Divulging the details, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner (DC)-cum-District Election Officer Varinder Kumar Sharma said: “One all-women polling booths have been set up in nine assembly constituency falling in the Lok Sabha constituency.”

The DC said: “The district administration has selected nine polling stations which includes Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Phillaur (East Side); Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Tehsil Bazaar in Nakodar (East Side); Government Girls Primary School in Shahkot; Government Elementary School Wadala in Kartarpur (East Side); MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar in Jalandhar West; Government Girls Senior Secondary School (West side); Ladowali road in Jalandhar Central, DAVIET, Kabir Nagar (South Side-2) in Jalandhar North, Guru Amar Dass Public School, Model Town (East Side-1) in Jalandhar Cantonment and Government Elementary School in Daulatpur in Adampur to be headed by all-women teams.