The officials of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) claimed that the preparations for the upcoming lok Sabha elections were on in full swing. As per the Dehradun Additional Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) Administration, Sandeep Saini this year, around 900 to 1,000 commercial vehicles would be provided by the RTO department for the elections in Dehradun district.
Saini informed that all the necessary preparations related to the elections were already in progress and added that the officials of the RTO were busy collecting details of the drivers to be deployed during the election and till date they have sent data base of total 350 drivers to the District Election Office. The route charts for different booths in the district have also started to come, he said. As per the official the route charts of 10 Vidhan Sabha constituencies including Cantt, Rajpur Road, Raipur, Sahaspur, Rishikesh, Doiwala, Dharampur, Mussoorie, Vikasnagar and Chakrata have been collected.
Saini said that the fuel arrangement would be managed by the District Supply Office (DSO). Other arrangements regarding deployment of officers would be managed in coordination with district administration, he added. Unlike last elections this year the reporting point for all the vehicles to be deployed on election duty would be at Sports College Raipur. Earlier these vehicles used to congregate at Parade Ground.
ARTO, Saini said that the decision regarding the reporting point for the vehicles was generally taken by the election office. Stating this decision of the election office in context to the reporting point of the vehicles, Saini said that Sports College was not a perfect place for congregation of vehicles.
He said that Raipur was a congested place and flow of vehicles would be affected. There were only two fuel pumps located near the Sports College which could create problematic situations during the election time. He said that Parade Ground was the best place for congregation of vehicles on poll duty as it is near the center of the city and there were many fuel pumps located nearby.
A source informed that the vehicles on poll duty are scheduled to reach Sports College on May 3 from where they would start departing for their respective polling booths on May 4. Of the total vehicles to be deployed on poll duty, about 100 small and big vehicles would be provided to the police as per their demand.
Interestingly, a postal ballot system would also be available this year for drivers hailing from different constituencies who will be deployed on election duty. A postal ballot form would be available at RTO free of cost. The drivers would be able to cast their votes through this postal service. RTO is planning to arrange facilitation counter at the reporting point for the convenience of the vehicle drivers, said Saini.
He also informed that 10 teams for video surveillance and 10 teams for flying squads would also be formed. A tentative time table from the election office is still awaited, which would be carrying necessary instructions for the RTO officials regarding the deadline for election preparations.