The Election Commission has directed all 75 districts to adopt `Model Plan for Polling Party Dispatch and Collection’ (MPPPDC) - a unique model designed by an IAS topper of 2009 batch Shubhra Saxena, presently District Magistrate of Amorha district, for smooth conduct of polls.
The model facilitates dealing with hazardous poll management issues, particularly relating to dispatch of poll parties, managing polling booths and depositing of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) after the polling.
Saxena demonstrated her model before Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi in Agra recently, who directed all 75 districts to adopt this model to end the chaos and confusion during dispatch of the polling parties and later collection of EVMs post-poll.
Conducting smooth polls in a state with over 140 million electorate, over 1.47 lakh polling booths across 75 districts to elect 403 Assembly members, has always been a tough task for the EC.
A B Tech from IIT Roorkee and 2009 UPSC topper, Shubra Saxena said,”Such a software was in my mind since 2012 as I witnessed the chaos and confusion during the dispatch of poll parties and later when they came to deposit the EVMs.”
“Conducting elections is a humongous event management exercise and due to chaos and confusion the experience becomes nightmarish, both for polling personnel and Returning Officers. Due to its huge population and associated high population density, UP requires effective management of pre-poll and poll-day activities. This new model has answers to all these issues,” she said.
Subhra Saxena is presently managing polling in four assembly seats in Amroha, where she was posted after the announcement of the elections. In 2012 polls too, she was DM of Amroha, which was the reason that the EC decided to post her again in the same district.
The proposed MPPPDC software model has five main components. The first is Model Dispatch Centre (MDC), the place from where polling parties are dispatched has a plethora of departments converging which needs immaculate conception and planning so that all processes run cohesively and confusion can be avoided. The area where partiesd are despatched is divided into zones, each zone denoting an Assembly segment. The Master Traffic Management Counter will take care for managing traffic towards individual segments to eliminate possibility of jams in city and different route plans while coming back on poll day. The administrative (A) sector will have arrangement for District Election Officer, Poll Observers and election related officers.