Model polling stations surprise voters

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 4

Model polling stations gave a pleasant surprise to voters as they were welcomed with a red carpet and balloons and were offered flowers at polling stations. There are 132 model booths set up in Amritsar district.

During a visit to the model polling stations in the city and outer areas, a major difference was observed between the ordinary stations and the model ones.

A beautiful red carpet was laid from the entrance of the station to separate booths at Khalsa College in Ranjit Avenue. A rangoli was also made in the centre of the ground. Several paintings encouraging voters to cast their votes were also displayed on walls.

As per directions of the Election Commission, mobiles phones were not allowed in the booth. Several visitors were seen arguing with the police personnel as there was no provision to keep the mobile phones outside booths.

Meanwhile, a model booth at Heir village in the Attari constituency was also decorated, but in a different way. Ballons were hanged on trees and a simple red carpet was laid.

When the district administration was trying to present model booths as an achievement, there were several booths in the district which lacked basic facilities.

The booth at Government Elementary School, Kot Mit Singh, on Tarn Taran Road lacked sufficient space to accommodate 10 voters.

As per the directions of the commission, the voters, who entered the school premises till 5 pm, has a right to vote.

Over 200 voters were standing in the street outside the school at around 5 pm. There is no boundary wall in the school.

However, presiding officers managed the mess by allotting tokens to the voters.