Role of Micro Observers vital in conducting elections: DC

District Collector Sumit Kumar has said that the role of Micro Observers is crucial in conducting elections and directed the election officials to take steps to conduct elections peacefully and impartially.
A workshop was organized for the Micro Observers here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, the Collector said that WG district has a population of about 19.50 lakhs and there are over 14.70 lakh voters for which 1,463 polling stations would be set up.
He said that 20 per cent of 282 polling stations have been identified as problematic polling stations, stating that Micro Observers have been appointed for those polling stations.
The Collector stated that the micro-observer should be at the polling station at least 90 minutes before the start of polling. The basic facilities at the polling station should be checked before polling begins, he told them.
He said that appointments would be made only in the problematic polling station, and efforts should be made to conduct the polling peacefully by understanding the conditions there in advance. They should observe whether the mock polling is conducted as per ECI norms.
The Micro Observers should check whether all the votes in CU have been cleared after the polling and all the slips have been removed from the VVPAT. He said that the EVMs and VVPAT cards should be checked when they are changed either in the case of mock polling or in the case of polling.
If the polling agents complain, they should be kept confidential and appropriate action should be taken, he said, adding that the two observers have been appointed for the WG district.
Nodal officer K Ch Appa Rao, SVEEP nodal officer GCH Prabhkar lead bank manager A Nagendra Prasad and election section superintendent Ch Durga Prasad were among those who were present.