In order to ensure peaceful counting of votes slated on March 11, a total of 550 government employees have been appointed. They would be trained at ONGC’s campus at Kaulagarh on March 3. They have been asked to reach the training venue by 9 am, an hour before the training will start, said In-charge officer (training) and additional district magistrate (finance) Veer Singh Budiyal on Thursday. He further said that polled Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) of all the 10 Assembly constituencies of the district have been stored in the strong room located at Maharana Pratap Sports College in Raipur and the counting would be held at the same place.
He said that a three- tier security arrangement has been put into place at the counting venue. Strong room is under CCTV surveillance round the clock, he said, adding that police forces, deployed at the strong room, are maintaining vigil. “While ITBP personnel have been deputed to man the first layer of security PAC jawans are looking after the middle and the civil police the outer layer. The police officers have been strictly directed not to allow anybody in, sans valid identity cards,” he added.