Draft voter list to be out in Telangana State by September, PwDs to have separate polling booths

HYDERABAD:  Amid expectations that the general election will be held in April or May, chief secretary SK Joshi reviewed the preparedness of officials for the exercise at a meeting held at the Secretariat here on Tuesday with chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar and all the district collectors. 

Rajat Kumar told Joshi that the Election Commission conducted household survey between May 21 and June 30 and revised the electoral rolls. “We will publish the draft electoral rolls by September and call for objections or complaints by October 30. The required corrections or changes, if any, will be made before November 30,” Kumar explained. The final electoral rolls will be published in December. 

The chief secretary directed the district collectors to focus on the addition of new voters or deletion of the names of those migrated or dead from the rolls. The collectors should also oversee the arrangements at polling stations and other election-related work, Joshi said.

For persons with disabilities (PwD), separate polling stations will be arranged and a special drive will be conducted for enrolment of PwDs as voters. The chief secretary also directed the collectors to identify the required godowns in their respective districts for storing the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable audit trail system (VVPATS). They should also identify officers for appointment as EROs or AEROs. The collectors were asked to conduct frequent reviews on elections and create awareness among voters about usage of VVPATS and EVMs.

Meanwhile, the CS asked the collectors through a video conference that the schedule of Kanti Velugu programme should be announced well in advance so that the public would know the dates. He told them that the government appointed 900 medical officers and allotted them to districts.