Women officials on the front for fair polls

Shivani Bhakoo

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Ludhiana, May 27

The elections are scheduled for June 1 in Punjab. This time, in several prominent districts of the state, the elections are being conducted by the women force. There are eight Deputy Commissioners and seven SSPs in the state, who are holding the fort for conducting elections in a transparent and smooth manner.

The Tribune tried to talk to them who presently are facing the challenges, especially in this scorching heat when temperature is touching to 45 degrees Celsius. These officials are out of their comfort zone, on their toes getting the minutest details of the polling booths, strong rooms, briefing observers who have come from other states, dealing with public, on the nakas, checking if cash, drugs or liquor were being given to the woo the voters, attending the meetings with the Election Commission etc.

As Ludhiana DC Sakshi Sawney says, “These are all the opportunities for us to learn and grow. At the same time, we cannot be relaxed at this hour as with me, there is whole team involved, which is on duty for 24×7. Possibly in the entire country, I feel highest number of candidates, which is 43, are contesting from Ludhiana”.

Khanna SSP Amneet Kondal is not bothered if the temperature is too high. She is on run to motivate her colleagues who are diligently performing the duties on roads amidst this heatwave. While checking the naka on the main GT Road, she stops to brief the personnel. “We cannot miss anything, we have to be vigilant and alert all the time. At the same time, you must also be well hydrated, only then you can manage everything well,” she tells them. Her six-year-old daughter is at Chandigarh with the father and she has asked the family to come only after June 5.

Preneet Kaur Shergill, Deputy Commissioner of Fatehgarh Sahib, said, “This is our duty and we are focusing on it in the best possible manner. Timelines are set. We have got clear instructions by the ECI and we are following these. Now the female officers are all over and the gender issue does not come. My family is used to me being away from home. Women have been continuously breaking the avowed ‘glass ceiling’ these days. In yet another instance, the Deputy Commissioner and the Senior Superintendent of Police in a border district of Fazilka are leading from front. Both, DC Senu Duggal and SSP Pragya Jain, are on forefront of their mission to ensure peaceful and fair elections.

The female DCs in various districts include, Sakshi Sawney (Ludhiana), Preneet Shergill (Fatehgarh Sahib), Dr Senu Duggal (Fazilka), Komal Mittal (Hoshiarpur), Ashika Jain (Mohali), Pallavi (Malerkotla), Punamdeep Kaur (Barnala), Preeti Yadav (Rupnagar).

The female SSPs are, Vatsala Gupta (Kapurthala), Ravjot Grewal (Fatehgarh Sahib), Pragya Jain (Fazilka), Simrat Kaur (Malerkotla), Saumya Mishra (Ferozepur), Amneet Kondal (Khanna) and Ashwani Gotyal (Batala).