Lack of basic amenities in many polling stations of Barak Valley is a matter of huge concern as voters and officials suffer alike
After the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, held on April 19, the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducted a nation-wide review as there was a four per cent decrease in the polling compared to 2019.
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The ECI prepared a plan to make all the polling stations across India equipped with basic amenities to combat the heat. However, Barak Valley presented a different picture as its two constituencies - Karimganj and Silchar – went to poll on April 26 in the second phase with many polling stations woefully short on these basic amenities.
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GPlus visited a polling station located at Mahadevpur village under the Dholai legislative assembly segment of Silchar Lok Sabha constituency. Bam Premananda ME School was converted into a polling booth, but there was no drinking water arranged for the voters who had queued up since morning in the sweltering heat.
A voter, Arup Das, talking to GPlus said, "At least there should be the facility of cold drinking water for the senior citizens in this scorching heat, and the polling station is not equipped with a clean toilet either."
A police constable on duty at the booth talking to GPlus said, "Forget about the voters, even the officials are not getting water to drink. There is no respite from this heat wave and that too during the elections."
The schools also did not have access to fans as the voters queued up on the verandah to cast their votes.
Similar scenes were observed in a polling station located at Mohanpur under the Hailkandi assembly segment of Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency.
A voter at the polling station there said," There is no drinking water, fan, or even clean toilets."
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday released the advisory to all State/UTs Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) on the prevention of heat wave impact before and during the Lok Sabha polls 2024.
General elections will be held in the country from April 19 to June 1 to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha.
In a letter addressed to the CEOs, ECI said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has indicated the probability of above-normal temperatures during the forthcoming summer season, which may translate into longer spells of heat waves especially from March to June 2024. In this regard, a copy of Do’s and Dont’s has been issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) regarding the minimisation of heat wave impact.
The ECI’s letter regarding Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) is to provide consolidated instructions in supersession of all the existing instructions on the subject.
“The commission directs the CEOs/DEOs to make a complete gap analysis of AMF at each Polling Station and work with State authorities to permanently provide these AMFs at the polling stations. It also provides facilities for voters to cast their votes conveniently. The AMF includes the Sector Officers to visit polling stations/locations to assess their worth”, the letter stated.
“The commission also directs the setting up of polling stations on the ground floor of a building to facilitate voting for aged and disabled electors. A permanent ramp of maximum gradient 1:12 should be provided for the Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and senior citizen electors. The Supreme Court has also directed to give wide publicity about the provisions of ramps”, the letter also added.
But, even then throughout the country, it has been found that major and basic amenities are lacking in the polling stations.
The GPlus team tried talking to the district administrations of both the Karimganj and Silchar constituencies, but they were too busy conducting the polls.
It needs to be mentioned that many parts of Barak Valley still face frequent power cuts and in rural areas if a voter wants to purchase cold water from any shop, it is difficult because the refrigerators in the shops are non-functional due to the power cuts.