Women polling staff will be deployed in all the polling stations in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for verifying the identity of women electors wearing veils.
The provision is part of the standard operating procedure issued by the Election Commission of India for these elections, Hyderabad District Election Officer and Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) D. Ronald Rose informed at a media conference on Tuesday.
“In case the pardanashin (veil-clad) women refuse to show their faces in front of other men in the polling station, a small enclosure will be provided within the polling station where their identity can be verified by a woman polling staff,” Mr. Rose informed. Objections about male polling officers holding the index finger to mark with indelible ink too will be addressed through women polling staff, he said. Several allegations had been levelled in earlier elections about women clad in burqas being used by political parties for rigging the polls, responding to which the ECI has added the provision.
