NCC, NSS cadets to assist in polling in Ganjam

For the first time, the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Social Service (NSS) volunteers would be deployed for election duty in Orissa’s Ganjam district during the ensuing twin polls for the state assembly and Lok Sabha to be held on April 16.

The notification for conducting the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Ganjam district was issued on Monday. The NCC and NSS volunteers will be deployed outside the polling stations on the day of the elections to maintain discipline and also to ensure that the voters stand in a queue at some selected polling stations in the district, VK Pandian, the Ganjam district collector told reporters here on Sunday. The NCC and NSS volunteers would man those polling stations where there are over 1,000 voters and more than three booths are located in the same place, he added. Their presence is in addition to the police force deployed there.

With 2,469 polling stations, Ganjam district has more number of polling stations than any other district in Orissa. Ganjam also has 13 Assembly constituencies, the highest in any district of the state and two Lok Sabha constituencies. Official sources said that there were 725 NCC cadets and about 7,000 NSS volunteers in Ganjam district. Besides the NCC and NSS volunteers, women employees have also been picked up for the first time for polling duty. Out of the total staff of 18,645 to be engaged for the poll duty, around 1600 would be women. The women employees would be deployed in booths which are less prone to trouble and are preferably located in the urban areas, Pandian stated.