IMPHAL: In a first in the country, a total of 487 polling stations of five Assembly constituencies in poll-bound Manipur will be exclusively managed by women officials, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra said on Tuesday.
“This is the first time in any of the state that the whole Assembly constituencies will be totally managed by the women poll officials,” the visiting CEC said, adding that steps have been initiated “to provide comfortable experience to women voters.”
A delegation of the Election Commission of India (ECI) led by CEC Sushil Chandra arrived here on a two-day visit to the state on Monday to review the status of poll preparedness for the ensuing 12th general election to the Manipur Assembly.
The constituencies that will be exclusively managed by women polling officials are Singjamei, Thoubal, Yaiskul, Wangkhei and Churachandpur.
Polling for the 60-member Manipur legislative Assembly will be held in two phases on February 27 and March 3. The counting will be held on March 10.
CEC Sushil Chandra said that there will be 115 model polling stations in Manipur and the officials concerned have been directed to ensure availability of assured minimum facilities which include water, electricity, toilets, and ramps at all polling stations.
{{/usCountry}}CEC Sushil Chandra said that there will be 115 model polling stations in Manipur and the officials concerned have been directed to ensure availability of assured minimum facilities which include water, electricity, toilets, and ramps at all polling stations.
{{/usCountry}}There are a total of 2968 polling stations in Manipur.
On the Covid norms, he said, “We have reduced the number of persons per polling stations from 1500 to 1250. With this particular reduction, 174 new polling stations have been created and officials have been directed to ensure proper signages and multiple entry and exit points at locations with more than one polling booth to avoid crowding.”
He also added that webcasting will be arranged in 2400 out of the total 2968 polling stations (over 80%) while the remaining will be covered with offline videography.
Saying that it is “heartening” to note that the state has 749 centenarian voters with Senapati district (110) having maximum number of centenarian voters, he said the officials have been directed to felicitate such centenarian voters who can act as role models for the youngsters.
On All Manipur Christian Organisation’s demand for rescheduling the first phase of poll, which falls on Sunday, the CEC said, “They have explained their positions to us. So, we will discuss in the commission after reaching Delhi and we will take appropriate actions whatever is required for that.”
During their visit, the ECI delegation met representatives of national and state recognised political parties and interacted with top civil and security officials of the state.
The CEC was accompanied by Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar,Anup Chandra Pandey, Chief Electoral Officer Manipur Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Election Commissioners Nitesh Vyas ,T Sreekanth and Director General (ECI) Sheyphali B Sharan.