Meghalaya scripts several firsts in run-up to LS polls
Courtesy: The Hindu
It may be a small state with just two Lok Sabha constituencies, but Meghalaya has scripted several firsts in the country as far as preparation for the April 16 poll is concerned. Chief Electoral Officer Prashant Naik told PTI that Meghalaya has the distinction of being the first state to print its own electoral rolls.
The electoral rolls were printed by the department with the help of around 120 digital photo cameras which the department owns - another distinction the department has earned as no other state owns such number of cameras. There are 1,277,736 voters in the states' two constituencies of Shillong and Tura.
Interestingly, the state also has the distinction of emerging as one of the two states with 100 per cent EPICs (election photo identity cards). Also, the election department is the first in the country to own around 800 video cameras.
"We had advertised for it. But we found that the cost the department would have to incur if we were to take them from agencies on lease, it would be nearly two times the actual cost of the cameras. So we decided to purchase it ourselves," Naik said.
The CEO said night vision cameras and CCTVs would be installed in all the eight strong rooms to "clear people's doubts about any attempt to tamper with ballot boxes."
"There will be a long period between voting and counting of votes for the first time. Therefore, we have decided to install surveillance cameras to ensure transparency and clear people's doubts," he said.
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It may be a small state with just two Lok Sabha constituencies, but Meghalaya has scripted several firsts in the country as far as preparation for the April 16 poll is concerned. Chief Electoral Officer Prashant Naik told PTI that Meghalaya has the distinction of being the first state to print its own electoral rolls.
The electoral rolls were printed by the department with the help of around 120 digital photo cameras which the department owns - another distinction the department has earned as no other state owns such number of cameras. There are 1,277,736 voters in the states' two constituencies of Shillong and Tura.
Interestingly, the state also has the distinction of emerging as one of the two states with 100 per cent EPICs (election photo identity cards). Also, the election department is the first in the country to own around 800 video cameras.
"We had advertised for it. But we found that the cost the department would have to incur if we were to take them from agencies on lease, it would be nearly two times the actual cost of the cameras. So we decided to purchase it ourselves," Naik said.
The CEO said night vision cameras and CCTVs would be installed in all the eight strong rooms to "clear people's doubts about any attempt to tamper with ballot boxes."
"There will be a long period between voting and counting of votes for the first time. Therefore, we have decided to install surveillance cameras to ensure transparency and clear people's doubts," he said.
