In a first, one pink booth has been set up in each of the five assembly segments of Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida, Dadri, Jewar, Sikandrabad and Khurja) for polling on Thursday.

The pink polling booths will have only female staff, including presiding officers, polling officers, micro observers and security personnel. The booth at every centre can be distinguished by its entirely pink décor, including pink walls and table covers.

“The aim of having pink booths is to encourage female participation in the entire polling process. These booths will be managed entirely by our efficient female staff. We also expect the overall female voter turnout to increase this year,” BN Singh, district magistrate and district election officer, said.

In Gautam Buddh Nagar district, a pink booth has been set up at Bal Bharati School in Sector 21 in Noida, the primary school in town area in Jewar and Vaidik Kanya inter-college in Dadri. Similarly, two such booths have also been set up in Khurja and Sikandrabad.

While just one both at the polling centre will be pink, the security staff for the polling centre will include male officials as well.

“Most security staff for the polling centres is assigned from outside the district. All centres will have male security staff, along with female security personnel,” Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police, said.

Apart from the pink booths, the administration has set up six model polling centres and 50 centres for persons with disabilities (PWD) have also been identified.

Apart from basic facilities such as drinking water and ramps, these 50 booths for PWD voters will also have wheelchairs and Anganwadi workers to assist disabled voters. Each such centre will have two or more polling booths. There are 11 disabled-friendly polling centres in Noida and 17 in Dadri, while Jewar has the highest number with 22 special centres.

The model polling centres, mostly in rural areas, are expected to have a large number of seats, health checkups and snacks for voters. The aim of having the model centres is to ‘celebrate the festival of democracy’, officials said.

First Published: Apr 11, 2019 10:41 IST