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Barely two months before the BMC elections,the civic body is finding itself in a tough spot with the State Election Commission (SEC) insisting that all 11,000-odd polling booths across the city should only be on the ground floor. The civic body is now worried that such a demand will lead to a sharp rise in election expenses in addition to the increasing the logistical and resources challenges.
State election commissioner Neela Satyanarayan said it is the duty of the government to have polling booths with maximum facilities for disabled and senior citizens. How can you expect old people or physically challenged individuals to come out and cast their vote if the polling booth is going to be on the upper floors and if the building does not have a lift? If BMC thinks it is going to be difficult for them to implement the same let them make a detailed presentation on the same and we will see what can be done, she said.
The insistence of the commission prompted Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar to meet Satyanarayan on Tuesday where he explained the limitations of the civic body. The do-ability of having all the booths on the ground floor is very difficult. It will increase the burden on our resources, Kumar said. An official from the BMCs election department said a majority of polling booths are in government and aided schools that do not have a lift. It is going to be very difficult to find additional sites in such a short time. Erecting additional pandals will increase expenditure and the total cost of Rs 30 crore can even double. In the 2007 elections,out of the total Rs 19.5 crores spent,Rs 9 crore was spent on erecting pandals, he said.
The staff requirement for the election is 71,000 government officials and at least five police personnel per polling booth. Even these estimates are set to increase if the SEC has its way. A recent directive by the SEC has restricted the number of voters per booth to 1,000. This guideline is set to raise the number of booths considerably,adding to the overall expenditure. The 2007 polls were conducted in 6,792 booths,with an average 1,200 to 1,600 voters registered at each. The new guideline will take the number of booths to nearly 11,000.
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