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The proceedings for the assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Odisha will be covered live through webcast at select critical booths in Ganjam district.
Polls for the two Parliamentary and 13 assembly constituencies will be conducted on Thursday.
“We have decided to make arrangements for webcast in at least 19 booths covering different assembly segments to keep a tab on the voting process,” said Ganjam collector Prem Chandra Chaudhary. There are 2,879 booths, including 23 auxiliary polling stations in the district. At least 548 booths have been identified as critical.
Webcast will be done in booths with broadband connectivity and also those located in critical areas, he said.
State run BSNL will offer broadband connectivity for the webcast aimed at preventing illegal activities like booth capturing and bogus voting.
The webcast facility will be made available to the office of the Election Commission (EC), New Delhi, chief electoral officer, Odisha and district election officer (DEO), Chhatrapur. Moreover, the recording would be closely monitored in the district election control room, sources said. Besides this, the administration has also decided to install digital and video cameras in 159 and 51 polling stations respectively to record the voting. Micro-observers would be deployed in other hyper sensitive booths to ensue free and fair polling, sources said.
The district administration has installed a help line (1950) to lodge any complaint on any illegal activity in the polling station. The complaint can also be lodged with the concerned superintendent of police and district collector. Immediate action will be taken after the receipt of complaints, while police will reach the spot within 15 and 30 minutes in urban and rural areas respectively, he stated. As many as 236 police patrolling units have been engaged across the district to maintain law and order and to rush immediately to the trouble spots. Police would go to any extent, including opening fire, if needed, to prevent booth capturing or any other illegal activity, Chaudhary said.
