98 Polling Booths Of Daman District To Be Videographed And Livestreamed: Deputy Collector

Daman (Daman and Diu) [India]: To ensure free, fair and transparent elections, all 98 polling booths in Daman will be videograped, and livestreaming will be broadcast to the Election Commission of India and Collector office in the district, Daman's Deputy Collector Priyanshu Singh said on Friday.

In an interaction with media, Daman's Deputy Collector Priyanshu Singh, and Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) shared details about the election preparation going on in the Union Territory.

"This time, just to ensure free, fair, transparent and safe elections, we have taken several steps. All the 98 polling stations in Daman District will have livestreaming facilities, and the livestream will be broadcasted in the Election Commission of India, in the collector office and to all the other relevant stakeholders," Priyanshu Singh said.

The senior officer said that the local administration has ensured that there are sufficient and well-prepared facilities in the polling stations, which include toilet light, basic table chairs, furniture, water arrangements, etcetera.

"The local administration is also deploying sufficient teams to manage everything and also keeping sufficient teams in reserve, keeping in view if, at the last moment, there is any additional requirement, some teams fail to perform or because of any other requirement," he added.

Speaking about the EVMs, he said that the voting machines have been thoroughly tested by officials.

"The polling booths will also be equipped with facilities like ramps and wheel chairs for all the physically disabled people and senior citizens, creche and child care facilities for women. Two volunteers are deployed to assist people with disabilities and senior citizens. A facility of pick-up and drop-off has been made for all the persons with benchmark disabilities and over-85-year-old voters who did not offer home voting facilities," Singh said.

About security arrangements, he said that sufficient security forces have been deployed and for these forces, basic minimum facilities like water, accommodation related facilities, and travel-related facilities have been arranged.

He also shared the plans for managing 12 vulnerable polling stations and 17 critical polling stations in the Daman districts.

"We have deployed sufficient force so that voters can feel safe and are able to cast their vote in a completely unbiased, free and fair manner," he said.

Daman's Deputy Collector also stated that there is one designated model polling booth with special arrangements like a selfie point and a separate mascot called 'voter didi' with whom one can take selfies and post them on social media.

One pink booth is dedicated exclusively to women with various facilities, he further added. The Lok Sabha elections for Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu are scheduled for May 7.