Hyderabad: State Election Commissioner C Parthasarathi calls for enforcement of stringent Covid19 guidelines during polls

Hyderabad: In the wake of the High Court order, State Election Commissioner C Parthasarathi on Thursday directed the officials to effectively implement Covid19 guidelines during elections.

The SEC had a video conference with the district collectors and police commissioners, district health and municipal commissioners and gave directions to them to follow the Covid19 guidelines on the day of voting and counting.

Parthasarathi asked the officials to ensure that voters wear masks and sanitise their hands before entering polling booths and sanitization of the surroundings of all polling stations a day before.

Rings should be marked outside polling stations so that voters can observe physical distance. He said a police constable should be deployed to enforce physical distance by voters.

The staff attending polling duties should wear masks, face shields and gloves until the end of the polling process and they should be seated in such a way that the physical distancing is maintained. He said one should wear an N-95 mask or two, if possible.

Polling duties should not be assigned to any employee who is not well, he said and suggested that counting halls should be arranged in spacious rooms with no more than five tables in each of them.