UT’s voter-friendly initiatives received great response
Initiatives taken by the Chandigarh election department to inform city residents about Lok Sabha poll results in real time through special short message service (SMS) and its official website evoked a great response.
Initiatives taken by the Chandigarh election department to inform city residents about Lok Sabha poll results in real time through special short message service (SMS) and its official website evoked a great response.
All the results classified under different categories were being updated on the official website of the administration at http://ceochandigarh.nic.in/.
The results were also mapped with Google Map enabling residents to get details of the votes secured by each candidate in different areas. The department had also launched an SMS service providing real-time updates of results after every round.
Around 90,000 people subscribed for the SMS alert service.
UT DC-cum-returning officer Mohammed Shayin said more than 35,000 people subscribed to the service on the counting day.
A lot of emphasis was laid on making things easier and more accessible for residents, he said, adding, “We had to invest considerable amount of time for the execution of services.”
All these services were widely advertised by the department for creating awareness among residents of the city.
For benefit of voters, an SMS service to help them know the waiting time at their respective polling stations was also launched. Besides, all polling stations were equipped with two cameras each, one inside and the other outside the booth, which telecasted the live images on web enabling voters to know the status of rush at each station.
For technology, the ECI had allocated a budget of Rs 3 crore. Lauding the efforts of the election department, Ashwani Kumar, a sales manager, said, “The department needs to be credited for making the election process hassle free. Chandigarh has set a benchmark for other states in smooth conduct of polls.”