Poll and security personnel deployed in Jharkhand during the upcoming Assembly Elections will get cashless treatment at hospitals in case of any casualty reported during the polling process, officials from Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Tuesday.
Though similar initiatives have been taken in the past during elections in different states, the move assumes significance as 19 of 24 districts in Jharkhand are Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected and prone to Maoist violence.“In case of any untoward incident, the affected security personnel and polling personnel will get cashless treatment at the nearest hospital,” said Umesh Sinha, Secretary General, ECI.
Sinha, along with Deputy Election Commissioner, Sudeep Jain was in Ranchi on Tuesday to review the preparedness of the State for the first three phases of elections.
Elections for the 81 assembly constituencies here will be held in five phases from November 30 to December 20. The final counting is scheduled on December 23. The election dates, ECI officials said, were decided in a way that they do not coincide with Diwali or Christmas.
“The Central agencies are regularly holding meetings to prevent any incident triggered by Left Wing Extremist insurgents during elections here. We have also asked for foolproof security and deployment of sufficient security personnel during elections in Jharkhand," Sinha said. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), 13 of the 19 LWE-affected districts here are extremely sensitive. Apart from the CPI (Maoist), there are at least 17 splinter outfits active in Jharkhand.
A majority of rebels from these outfits are hired guns and thugs involved in abducting businessmen for ransom, cultivating poppy, trafficking children and killing for sport, say police. Sources said that one of the reasons for conducting a lengthy election in Jharkhand was the presence of LWE groups here. Jharkhand will also be the first State to provide postal ballot facility for voters with disability and voters above the age of 80 years. In a recent amendment made to the Conduct of Election Rules 1961, the ECI decided to make the aforementioned category of voters eligible for postal ballot. The decision was taken to increase voter turnout. "Jharkhand will be first State to use amended postal ballot rules in India. Continued on Page 4