Foolproof security arrangements made for sensitive polling stations: DEO Jammu

Jammu : District Election Officer, Ramesh Kumar Saturday said district administration Jammu has made foolproof security arrangements for the smooth conduct of Urban Local Body polls in the district, including sensitive and hyper sensitive polling stations.
Responding to media queries here at a press conference, the DEO informed that adequate number of security personnel would be deployed at identified hypersensitive and sensitive polling stations. He said micro Observers have also been appointed to monitor polling at hyper-sensitive polling stations.
The DEO informed that the ULB elections in the district with one Municipal Corporation and seven Municipal Committees will be held in the 1st phase and the voting will take place on October 08. The polling hours will be from 7 am to 4 pm, he informed.
He said for the first time, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used in the ULB polls, for which proper training has been imparted to the polling staff.
A total of 4,42,159 voters will vote to elect their representatives at 584 polling stations including 505 polling stations for Municipal Corporation Jammu and 79 for Municipal Committees, the DC informed. The counting will take place on October 20, 2018, he added.
The DEO further informed that joint Control Room of Police and Civil Administration has been set up for the smooth flow of election related information.
He said the administration has declared October 8 – the polling day as holiday in the poll bound areas to ensure maximum voter turnout.
Earlier, the DEO reviewed the arrangements being put in place by the District Administration for the smooth conduct of upcoming Municipal Elections in a meeting.
A detailed discussion was held on various issues pertaining to enforcement of Modal Code of Conduct, functioning of Zonal and Sectoral Magistrates and Observers, deployment of manpower, election material for polling stations, transport management, dispatch of polling parties, communication plans, collection centre, counting plan and poll day arrangements, communication plan and monitoring besides security arrangements and maintaining law order.
The DEO assigned the duties to the designated officers and directed them to follow the timeline designated against polls related activities and ensure timely response of any information.
He asked the officials involved in the election process to put their best efforts and work in a synergistic manner to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in the district.
The DEO informed that proper transportation facilities will be available for the smooth dispatch of polling parties and their receiving at the collection centers.
SSP Jammu, Vivek Gupta gave a detailed briefing about the security plan envisaged for incident free election process. The DEO asked the Police authorities to deploy adequate manpower to ensure hassle-free conduct of elections with special focus on hypersensitive and venerable polling stations.
While briefing about the setting up of EVMs at polling stations, the DEO directed the polling staff to arrive at the polling stations well in time i.e before 6 am and conduct mock poll practice. In case of absence of polling agents of political parties and candidates, wait for 15 minutes and start your mock polling, he added.
Respond immediately to complaints and adopt an active approach to resolve the same, the DEO to Zonal Magistrates. He informed that the Mater Trainers will be available at back hand and asked the Pos to report any troublesome incident in the dairy.
The meeting was attended by ADC Kanta Devi, ADC Rishpal Singh besides SDMs, Zonal Magistrates, Sectoral Officers, Nodal Officers and senior officers of Police and other concerned departments.