NEW DELHI: Relief & Rehabilitation Commissioner (M), J&K, Dr. Arvind Karwani, today chaired a meeting to take stock of the arrangements being put in place for migrant voters. The meeting was attended by Deepak Kumar, Assistant Returning Officer(M) Jammu, Booth Level Officers and the election teams.
Dr Karwani emphasized on ensuring all requisite Assured Minimum Facilities(AMF) at all designated Special Polling Stations at Jammu viz. permanent ramps, drinking water, toilet facilities as per norms of Election Commission of India. Booth Level Officers were asked to reach out to the migrant voters and ensure all necessary facilitation, particularly keeping in view the scattered population of the migrants in the non-camp areas of Jammu.
Pertinent to mention that the Election Commission of India has notified the scheme for Kashmiri Migrants to Vote in person at notified Special Polling Stations and voting by means of postal ballots pertaining to the General Election to Assembly Constituencies falling in Kashmir Province of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. As per the notified scheme 19 Special Polling Stations in Jammu and 01 in Udhampur have been mapped to the Camps/Zones individually, ensuring that every Zone has at least one special polling station.
The intra-zonal jurisdiction for each such polling station has been earmarked keeping in mind the distance/ease of approach for each set of electors. It was emphasized upon the Booth Level Officers to ensure to reach out to voters indicated in their respective electoral roll extract. It was further impressed that Zonal Officers (Nodal Officers) and Booth Level Officers (BLO’s) shall remain available in their respective areas to promote SVEEP activities and also address the queries of migrant voters on spot.
