The Election Commission has issued directives about randomisation of women polling staff for lok Sabha elections. Office of the Chief Electoral Office has conveyed these directives to district election officers.
As per the directives, women polling staff should be selected so that they can reach their respective polling booths 2 hours before start of polling.
For this, the Commission has prescribed four categories. In the first category, women employees will not be deployed on poll duty in rural Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the Gram Panchayat where they work or reside.
In this second category, which covers urban lok Sabha constituency having two or more Vidhan Sabha constituencies, women employees' randomisation should be done on alternate Vidhan Sabha constituency-wise.
In the third category covering Vidhan Sabha constituencies having some parts in rural areas, women employees should not be deployed on poll duty in the area where they live or work.
Regarding the fourth category, the Commission has clarified that in Vidhan Sabha constituencies having both urban and rural areas, women employees should not be deployed on poll duty in the Gram Panchayat where they live or work.
But special attention should be paid that they are not deployed out of the block where they live or reside.Meanwhile, All India Forward Bloc has been allotted election symbol “Sher” by the Election Commission in five lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh.
The constituencies where the Commission has directed to reserve/ allot 'Sher' symbol are Satna, Rewa, Jabalpur, Balaghat and Chhindwara. It is noteworthy that All India Forward Bloc is recognised as a State-level party in West Bengal.