District collectors in Odisha asked to complete ward delimitation by October 26

BHUBANESWAR: The State Election Commission (SEC) has asked district collectors to complete delimitation of wards and reservation of seats and submit all necessary information by October 26.

In a virtual meeting with the district heads on Thursday, State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi discussed preparations for the panchayat polls which are expected to be held in February next year. The Panchayati Raj department has already asked the collectors to complete the delimitation and reservation exercise and submit all the relevant information to the SEC.

Padhi directed the collectors to submit details on ballot boxes to the respective district administration. The district administrations have been provided Rs 1.16 crore for repair of ballot boxes and the collectors asked to complete the task by November 15.

The SEC has issued detailed guidelines for counting of ballots which will be held at the block headquarters this time. The collectors were asked to identify counting centres and remain prepared accordingly. Besides, they were also asked to prepare voters' list for the panchayat polls basing on the list published in January this year for Assembly constituencies. 

The collectors have also been asked to complete identification of polling centres and complete all preparations by November 5. The Commission has asked the district heads to set up temporary polling centres where there are none available.

Besides, they have been asked to complete the process of appointing election officials by October 25.