The Sonitpur district administration has geared up for smooth conduct of the upcoming parliamentary election in a free and fair manner.
Addressing mediapersons at a press meet held recently at the Conference Hall of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office here, DC Narsing Pawar, who is the District Election Officer for Tezpur Election District and Returning Officer for 7 Tezpur HPC, informed that election to 9 Tezpur HPC will take place in the first phase, i.e., on April 11, and that there are 5 legislative Assembly segments under Tezpur Election District, namely 71-Dhekiajuli, 72-Barchalla, 73-Tezpur, 74-Rangapara and 75-Sootea.
Seeking active cooperation of the media in giving adequate publicity about the fair process of the election process, the Deputy Commissioner informed that all necessary steps have been taken to provide adequate security throughout the district in view of the upcoming polls.
For smooth conduct of the election process, the district administration has opened various cells under the supervision of senior district administration officials and has engaged adequate staff in each of these cells. Altogether, 6,112 government employees have been engaged for smooth conduct of the elections.
The total number of voters in Tezpur election district is 8,78,114, out of which 4,48,028 are males, 4,30,073 females and 13 of the third gender. Stating that there are another 2,774 service voters and 4,641 People with Disabilities (PwD) electors, the District Election Officer informed that special provisions are being put in place to ensure that all PwD voters can be taken to the polling stations to exercise their voting rights. While wheelchairs will be provided to aid those with locomotor disabilities, ballot paper will be available in Braille form for the visually impaired.
Awareness campaigns on EVM/VVPAT along with SVEEP activities are being carried out all over the district to ensure maximum turnout during the polls.
The Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer appealed to the media to give wide publicity about the ongoing process of updation of the electoral roll and informed that those who have attained the age of 18 as on 1/1/2019 may enrol their names in the electoral roll vide Form-6.
He also informed that there will be 50 all-women polling stations in Tezpur town.
Superintendent of Police Kumar Sanjit Krishna informed that out of the 1,118 polling stations covering both Sonitpur and Biswanath police districts, 13 have been identified as critical, 157 have been identified as very sensitive, while 452 have been identified as sensitive, with the rest 496 being comparatively safe. Out of the 1,118 polling stations, 967 fall under Sonitpur police district.
Moreover, a toll-free voters’ helpline – 1950 – has been opened for all election- related purposes.
Additional Deputy Commissioners KK Sarma, Narnarayan Nath, Additional Superintendent of Police Numal Mahanta, Election Officer Subhram Aditya Bora, DIPRO Neena Baruah and others were present at the media briefing.
On the other hand, a meeting with all the political parties was also held on Tuesday evening, where the Deputy Commissioner sought cooperation from all political parties and public representatives for smooth conduct of the poll.
