Men, material in place for free and fair poll: Dayalan

Tribune News Service

Mohali, February 2

Requisite men and material are in place for the conduct of free and fair MC elections. This was stated by District Electoral Officer (DEO) Girish Dayalan in a meeting held with returning officers at the District Administrative Complex here today.

The meeting was especially attended by MS Chinna, Kanwalpreet Brar and Parampal Kaur, election observers for the district, to keep abreast of the polling arrangements. ADCs Ashika Jain and Rajiv Gupta and SDMs Himanshu Jain, Jagdeep Sehgal and Kuldeep Bawa were also present in the meeting.

Divulging details about the preparedness, Girish Dayalan said duties had been assigned to the staff. The mandatory rehearsal of the polling staff would be conducted on February 7 and 10. Randomisation of EVMs had been done and these be distributed as per the plan. Counting and storage centres/strong rooms had been identified.

He said a complaint redressal cell had been setup under the District Food and Civil Supply Controller and a media monitoring cell had been established under the District Public Relations Officer.

Dayalan said kits containing material such as face shields, masks, gloves, sanitisers and a thermal scanner for Covid prevention were being procured and would be handed over to the polling parties. The administration was mulling over setting up of all-woman booths to encourage female voters.

SSP Satinder Singh said a roadmap for the peaceful and safe conduct of the elections was in place. As per the norms, police personnel had been assigned areas of duty and extra force would be deployed in sensitive and hypersensitive polling stations.

The observers stressed upon prompt redressal of complaints, if any, and suggested setting up of a complaint redressal cell at the returning officer (RO) level. They also suggested sanctioning permission for loud speakers at the RO level. The observers also suggested proper sanitisation and fogging of polling stations.

Mandatory rehearsal of staff on Feb 7, 10

District Electoral Officer Girish Dayalan said duties had been assigned to the staff. The mandatory rehearsal of the polling staff would be conducted on February 7 and 10. Randomisation of EVMs had been done and these would be distributed as per the plan. Counting and storage centres/strongrooms had been identified.