Arrangements for conducting elections to the local bodies have been made with the cooperation of the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (PR&RD), Municipal Administration, police and other departments, State Election Commissioner (SEC) N. Ramesh Kumar has said.

“A total of 1.20 lakh ballot boxes are available and 45,000 additional boxes are being sourced from Telangana (40,000) and Odisha (5,000). Guidelines for the smooth conduct of elections have been issued to the district Collectors and Superintendents of Police,” Mr. Ramesh Kumar told the media here on Thursday after a high-level review meeting.

The issue of reservations was discussed to ensure that no problem cropped up. Details of the reservations would be put in public domain, he said.

Tight security

Mr. Ramesh Kumar further said that sensitive polling centres were identified. Tight security would be provided by the Police Department, which was setting up inter-district and inter-State check-posts to keep a tab on suspicious elements.

Steps for giving training to the polling staff were taken. The focus was on the proper usage of the ballot papers, he said.

Mr. Ramesh Kumar said that meetings would be conducted with the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police, and top officials of the PR&RD and Municipal Administration departments on March 6 to do a comprehensive planning.

State Election Commission secretary S. Ramasundara Reddy and joint secretary A.V.S. Ramesh were present.