Micro Observers for all 11629 PSs, counting centres
*Emergency Plan of airlifting men & machinery for dozen-odd areas
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 28: The Election Commission has decided to deploy two Central Observers each in all five Parliamentary constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir while the Union Territory Election Authority will be engaging Micro Observers for all 11629 Polling Stations to ensure free, fair and transparent elections and counting of votes.
An emergency plan has also been chalked out to airlift men and material to Polling Stations in nearly a dozen areas in Jammu and Kashmir in case of adverse weather conditions.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Election Commission will be deputing two Central Observers each, both of whom will be senior officers, to all five Lok Sabha seats of the UT including Udhampur-Doda, Jammu-Reasi, Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag-Poonch-Rajouri.
“The Central Observers will undertake tours of Parliamentary constituencies allotted to them and take all possible measures to ensure that the Lok Sabha elections are conducted in free, fair and transparent manner and that there is no complaint whatsoever about any irregularities,” the sources said adding that the Observers will issue necessary directions to the district administration pertaining to the elections if they deem fit.
One of them will be General Observer and another Expenditure Observer and will perfom their duties accordingly.
Similarly, as per the sources, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jammu and Kashmir will be deploying Micro Observers in all 11629 Polling Stations in five Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir to ensure that polling proceeds smoothly on the day of voting .
All such arrangements are being monitored by CEO PK Pole.
“There are 11629 Polling Stations in Jammu and Kashmir for 2024 Lok Sabha elections as compared to 10757 in 2019. New Polling Stations have been added keeping in view the increased number of electorates,” the sources said.
They added that the Micro Observers will be trained in advance to perform their duties efficiently.
The Micro Observers will also be deployed at all the counting stations on June 4 when counting for all Parliamentary constituencies will be taken up, they said and added that all counting tables will be covered by the Observers to ensure that there are no complaints from candidates or their representatives at the time of counting.
Meanwhile, the Election Authority has identified nearly a dozen areas where the Polling Stations across Jammu and Kashmir will require airlifting of men and machinery if the weather conditions are adverse ahead of the day of polling, the sources said.
These areas include Marwah, Warwan, Dachchan, Machail and Paddar in Kishtwar, Karnah, Keran and Machil in Kupwara district and Gurez, Tulail and Baktore in Bandipore district.
However, as per the sources, if passes are open, the men and machinery will be taken to the upper reaches by road but if the weather conditions are adverse and passes are closed, the airlifting of sorties will be sought from the Indian Air Force (IAF).
“An emergency plan has been drafted and it will be put in place taking into account the weather conditions,” the sources said.
Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituency will go to polls in first phase on April 19 while Jammu-Reasi segment will have voting in second phase in April 26. Anantnag-Poonch-Rajouri segment will have voting on May 7. Srinagar Lok Sabha seat will go to votes on May 13 and Baramulla on May 20 in fourth and fifth phases respectively.
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