The polling personnel, especially women teachers, getting poll duty assignment say they encounter several problems such as lack of restrooms and lack of water supply during their overnight stay in the polling stations ahead of polling.
Several personnel, who wished to remain anonymous fearing vindictive action by officials, shared their ordeal during the Assembly elections in 2021. Their common complaint is that washrooms in many schools lacked water supply. “When I reached my polling station on the previous evening during 2021 Assembly polls, I checked the washroom, which was in a nauseating condition as there was no water. I had to clean the toilet first after fetching water from a nearby well in a bucket from an adjacent house. Another problem was that there was no electric bulb in the washroom and my repeated appeals to the officials to fit a bulb in the toilet were ignored. I bought a few candles with which I and my friends managed the situation,” recalled a woman presiding officer.
While the polling personnel have to give a makeover to the toilets to make it useable, the absence of bathroom in the schools is the another major headache for them.
“Sensing the situation in store, I, along with two other polling personnel posted in a village in Radhapuram Assembly segment during Assembly elections 2021, managed to convince heads of three houses in the village who generously allowed us to take bath before we reported for duty,” said a woman teacher.
Snakes in toilet
Another woman presiding officer had a different experience. “When we, a group of four women personnel were posted in a remote school in Ambasamudram Assembly segment in 2021, went to take a look at the washroom the previous day, we were cautioned by a retired teacher in the house next to the school about the presence of venomous snakes in the washroom which had no electric bulb. She asked us to be extremely careful while using it. So, we, after cleaning the toilet, bought candles from a shop in the village and got two 6-foot-long sticks from the retired teacher to deal with any adverse situation,” she said.
A man posted in a rural school in Nanguneri Assembly segment spent a sleepless night before the polling day. “While I managed to ward off mosquitoes with repellent cream, I did not know how to deal with the rats running around the place where we had to sleep,” he recalled.
Those who were posted in remote villages in the last election had a tough time in reaching the nearest bus stop or bus stand after the polling.
“I, along with other polling personnel, had to literally beg with the driver of the vehicle who had come to take the EVM to drop us at the nearest bus stand. As we were in a village near Kulasekarapattinam, we were dropped at Tiruchendur bus stand late in the night and we could get the bus an hour later,” a teacher from Thoothukudi district said.
Women teachers suggest that the local village panchayat president or the Village Administrative Officer concerned may be asked to hire two 200-litre plastic barrels for storing water in each polling station, which can be used by the polling personnel.
“We are told that a woman General Observer (Ponkshe Vayangankar - 9489963626) has been posted in Tirunelveli Parliamentary constituency. We, through you, appeal to the General Observer to give stringent instructions to the officials concerned to address these issues to ensure the safe stay of the polling personnel, particularly women, so that they enjoy the polling work without any stress on April 19,” said a woman presiding officer, who is going to do the polling duty for the fourth time.
‘Toilets cleaned’
Tirunelveli District Collector and Returning Office of Tirunelveli Parliamentary constituency K.P. Karthikeyan said the local bodies were doing all the cleaning of toilets before polling.
“Except a few places, toilets are in good condition in almost every school. No booth is in any uninhabitable place. Polling booths are set up only in schools functioning with students and the teachers,” he said.
