Berhampur: As many as 24 all-women polling booths will be set up across Ganjam district in the elections to the urban local bodies (ULBs) slated to be held on March 24.
The all-women polling stations, called ‘Pink Booths’, will be managed exclusively by women officials. Each booth will have four persons, including presiding officer, first and second polling officers and security personnel. All of them will be women, said an officer of district administration.
According to sources, five Pink Booths will be set up in Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), three in Hinjili municipality and at least one booth in each Notified Area Council (NAC) area. The district has highest number of 18 civic bodies including BeMC in the state. These will have total 527 polling stations including 250 in BeMC area.
“We have already identified the booths which will be converted as all-women booths,” said the officer. The Pink Booths will be set up in Aska Road (booth no 11), Old Berhampur (booth no 26), near BeMC office (booth no 80), Giri Road (booth no 176) and inside the medical campus (booth no 196), he added.
More than 2.55 lakh voters will exercise their franchise to elect mayor and 42 corporators in the BeMC area.
The initiative for setting up all-women polling stations for the first time in the three-tier panchayat elections was taken in an attempt to boost the participation of fair sex in the electoral process, an election official said. The district administration had set up at least one all-women polling center in each block.
The administration has also decided to depute volunteers of the National Service Scheme (NSS) in polling booths in BeMC to provide assistance to elder persons, persons with disabilities and others.
