Puducherry: Puducherry, which is going to polls on May 16, is poised for a higher level of voting on account of a slew of new initiatives being taken to boost the voter turn out, Chief Election Commissioner of India Nasim Zaidi said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Chennai, after his two-day visit to Puducherry, he noted that the Union Territory had last time registered 86 per cent of polling. "Now, because of new initiatives being taken, the state is poised to witness a higher level of voting," he said.
He further said, 'meghdoot post card', containing customised print, would be despatched to first time voters and for those in low voter turnout areas besides other targeted households in Puducherry, as part of the new initiatives to increase the voter turn out.
Emphasising the need for attaching higher importance to create a conducive environment for a peaceful election, Zaidi asked the state and district level officials to reassess the 132 vulnerable hamlets and 19,000 vulnerable persons identified in these locations.
"A comprehensive security plan should be prepared upto the grass root level," he added. On seizure of unaccounted cash, he said over Rs 70lakh and 3,800 litres of liquor had been confiscated by officials and the drive would be further intensified by the Excise and Police machinery.
About the online grievance redress system,'Samadhan', he said of the 165 complaints received through this facility, 143 had been disposed of. All 9.35 lakh voters in Puducherry have been covered under Electors Photo Identity cards (EPICs), Zaidi said.
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) would be used in 67 polling stations of three Assembly segments (Orleanpet, Uppalam and Karaikal-South). Zaidi also said political parties had during a meeting raised the issue of distribution of cash and freebies and sought measures to check it.
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