CS gears up admin for taking measures ahead of ECI visit

Jammu, Mar 9:  Ahead of the scheduled visit of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 12 and 13 of this month Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo Saturday held a meeting with the civil and Police administration to sensitise them about the measures to be taken for smooth conduct of Lok Sabha elections here in Jammu and Kashmir.

During the meeting, the chief secretary said that the objective of the administration was to ensure free and fair elections with large-scale participation of the people.

He impressed upon the divisional and district administration to take all the necessary measures to ensure that people do not face any hardships in exercising their democratic rights. Dulloo took up the department-wise issues and enquired from the concerned about the measures they had taken so far in compliance with the ECI directions.

He asked each of them to use the time before elections efficiently to make these guidelines applicable on the ground.

On this occasion, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), P K Pole informed the meeting about the initiatives to be taken by different departments.

He said that electoral literacy campaigns in educational institutions were going to be held in the coming days besides designating campus ambassadors in colleges and universities.

Pole said that as per the guidelines of the ECI, each polling station should have assured minimum facilities.

He said that each polling station should have facilities like toilets, ramps, power, drinking water, and furniture.

It was also informed that necessary measures ought to be taken for the inclusion of voter education in the regular curriculum in the colleges and universities.

The meeting also discussed the connectivity issues in polling stations, and approach roads to them in addition to the transport and other amenities to be made available for transportation of electoral machinery and staff during the election days in J&K.