Telangana
The district election officer said that there will be live webcasting from 133 polling stations, CCTV recordings at 250 polling stations and engineering students will record proceedings from 307 polling stations in Telangana.
Warangal: With Telangana Assembly set to go to polls on December 7, all booths in the Warangal district of the state will be under digital surveillance, district collector Prashanth Jeevan Patil has said.
District collector and District Election Officer (DEO) of Warangal, Patil said, “For the first time in the state, we are bringing all the polling stations under digital surveillance in the district. As per my knowledge, no other district in the state is doing so.”
Patil told Telangana Today that there are a total of 690 polling stations in the district with the three constituencies, Warangal West, Warangal East and Wardhannapet.
He said that the decision to implement these measures came after identifying 150 polling stations as critical. “There will be live streaming (webcasting) from 133 polling stations, engineering graduates will record the proceedings at 307 polling stations, and CCTVs will record proceedings in the remaining 250 polling stations. Thus, we are bringing all the polling stations under digital surveillance,” he explained.
The DEO said that they received around 560 complaints through the Citizen Vigil (cVIGIL) app. Out of these, 204 were genuine.
He also spoke about the distribution of cash, liquor and sarees as bribes for the voters. “So far, we have seized Rs 84 lakh unaccounted cash during the checks, and a total of 39 FIRs were also registered in connection with the elections. Eighteen of them are related to inducement of voters by offering cash, liquor or gifts,” Patil said.
On the security measures for the polls, he said that a total of 2,000 security personnel will be deployed at the polling stations. They would include the state police, 12 companies of paramilitary forces. Also, 3,200 persons will also be deployed at these stations for smooth execution on the day of voting.
A voter facilitation centre will be set up at the stations to help voters with necessary information. Patil said a two-day holiday was declared for both private and government schools on December 6 and 7.
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