As millions of people from Telangana prepare to vote for Lok Sabha elections on May 13, thousands of government employees and volunteers are toiling behind the scenes to make the polling day a pleasant experience. At the polling stations, lights have been strung up, ramps have been created for wheelchairs, bags of bleaching powder and limestone powder have been kept ready for demarcating the polling station zones. On Monday night, polling officials tested and commissioned the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), that will be transported on Sunday night for Monday’s polling.
Overlooked in this clockwork arrangement are the polling staff — some of them university teachers, professors, engineers from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and teachers from government schools. “Voting is the most important aspect of our democracy. Being involved with it is a matter of pride for us. But when we enter the Distribution and Reception Centre (DRC) I feel terrible. Hundreds of staff don’t have a place to sit or organise the material we have to take to polling stations. The most distressing aspect is we cannot use washrooms,” said a government school teacher about her role in the voting exercise.
Some of the people deputed for election duty turn up at the centres but disappear after signing or loiter without a care in the world, wary about what they will undergo. To take care of this malingering, the election officials keep a high percentage of staff in reserve.
The polling staff spend nearly 24 hours at the polling booths but the amenities are abysmal. Most of the government schools are repurposed for polling and these schools leave a lot to be desired in terms of rest, hygiene and sanitary facilities. The DRCs at Masab Tank for Karwan and Nampally constituencies becomes a scene of chaos when the polling staff collect the material and again when they return it.
One of the biggest DRCs is at the LB Stadium and witnesses hundreds of polling staff, GHMC workers and observers turn up at the venue. “The function is a day long one and we came in early. Toilets here are unfit for use,” a polling official shared when asked about the polling duty. Both the men’s room and women’s rooms are near Gate 6 of the stadium.
As thousands gather at the stadium for election duties, the queue of people waiting to use the washroom swells into dozens who spill onto the tunnel. The result is total chaos.
