HC asks EC to provide basic facilities to poll staff

The Madras High Court today directed the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer to provide all basic facilities to polling staff and police personnel on duty in the state for the May 16 assembly elections.
Disposing of a PIL seeking to provide mobile toilets to women police personnel drafted for duty, a bench comprising Justice K K Sasidharan and Justice S Vimala observed it would not be possible for the staff to discharge their duty in this peak summer without providing them reasonable facilities.
The bench, however, made it clear that its direction should not be construed as an expression of opinion that the Election Commission had not taken steps for providing the basic facilities.

"It is only for the purpose of ensuring that minimum facilities are available to all the polling staff and policemen on duty in all polling stations and in other places in connection with election duty, we have issued the direction as indicated above," the bench said.
The state Chief Electoral Officer submitted a report stating that toilet facilities had been provided at about 65,512 polling stations, which account for 99.84 per cent of the stations.
It assured that temporary facilities would be provided in remaining polling stations on the date of poll.

Earlier, the court referred to news reports that central paramilitary force personnel, who arrived in the city for election duty recently, were kept in the Central Railway Station itself for hours together without food and water and said such things should not happen.

"They are also human beings, entitled to the right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Such things should not happen. State Police force as well as central forces should be given basic minimum facilities both in the polling stations as well as in other locations where they are assigned election duty," the court said.
Petitioner Kalaichelvi of a social organisation said her forum had made a representation to the Election Commissioner on April 15 last but so far officials have not made any arrangements for the women police who are engaged in election duty.