Educational institutions in Baramulla to remain closed on June 4

Baramulla, June 1:  All the educational institutions located around the National Highway-1 (NH1) from Khanpora to Sangrama and those falling within the municipal limits of Baramulla will remain closed on June 4.

The decision has been taken by the District Election Officer (DEO) Baramulla, Minga Sherpa given the counting of votes scheduled on June 4, 2024, at Government Degree College Boys, Baramulla.

“Given the scheduled counting of the votes for Lok Sabha Polls-2024 on June 4 all the educational institutions located around NH1 from Khanpora to Snagrama and within the municipal limits of Baramulla will remain closed on June 4, 2024,” reads an order issued by DEO Baramulla.

The DEO Baramulla Minga Sherpa, who is also the Returning Officer (RO) for 1-Baramulla parliamentary constituency said that all the preparations had been made and all arrangements were in place for the counting of votes.

“The barricading of the counting centre has already been done. A trial was also conducted on Saturday at the counting centre set up at Government Degree College Baramulla,” Sherpa said.

He said that the counting of votes would start at 7:30 am on June 4 as per the rules and regulations of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the instructions received from CEO J&K.

“The counting will start with the counting of postal ballots at 7:30 am followed by counting of votes on EVMs from 8 am. The counting will continue till the last vote is counted,” Sherpa said.

He said that the educational institutions situated along the National Highway Baramulla from Khanpora to Sangrama will remain closed on June 4 to avoid any inconvenience to the students.

“There will be a huge rush of staff and government vehicles towards the counting centre and we do not want students to face any inconvenience,” Sherpa said.

About the security arrangements made for June 4, he said that a three-tier security system would be in place for which a detailed plan has been chalked out by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Baramulla to ensure smooth counting of votes.

“District Police, Armed Police, and CRPF will be deputed in the premises and outside the counting halls to ensure a foolproof security system,” Sherpa said.

Notably, on Saturday, the SSP Baramulla Amod Ashok Nagpure along with other senior Police officers and top officials of CRPF visited Government Degree College Baramulla which is the venue for the counting of the votes.

During his visit, Nagpure took a detailed review of the security arrangements put in place for June 4.

He also briefed the officers to further strengthen the security system at the venue.

The Lok Sabha polls were held on May 20, 2024, and around 59 percent voting was recorded in the Baramulla parliamentary constituency which comprises Baramulla, Kupwara, and Bandipora districts and two assembly segments of Budgam district - Budgam and Beerwah.

Around 17,37,865 lakh electors were enrolled to cast their votes and over 8000 polling staff performed the poll duty.