GUWAHATI: The Election Commission (EC) has fallen back on an ancient practice to conduct polls in remote villages during the August 23 by-election to the Ranikor seat in land-locked Meghalaya.
Runners will go a maximum of 40 kilometres up and down to deliver messages on polling day. Like in ancient India or Greece, couriers will run cross-country as the roads are not motorable.
The EC has roped in a bunch of runners, who take part in various competitions, to transmit messages, as substitutes for technology. At least five polling stations in Ranikor are perched on inaccessible hills and the roads leading to them are non-motorable.
“Those are remote and inaccessible areas with difficult terrain. The mobile connectivity is also very poor. The runners are being engaged to transmit messages between polling parties and sector officers. The sector officers will, in turn, transmit the messages to the returning officer and election officials,” Meghalaya’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Frederick Kharkongor, told TNIE.
It takes several hours to reach some polling stations, he said, adding that around 15 youth had been identified by the district authorities for the job.
Asked about the concept, Kharkongor said, “People in that area have got the reputation of being good runners. We have a pool of 10 to 15 people. Wherever there is a need, they will be deployed. They are young people and part of the election team. We will pay them some honorarium as due to polling officials. They will walk at a brisk pace and run. The distance that they will cover will range from 40 to 50 km,” the CEO said.
The by-election to Ranikor seat was necessitated as five-time sitting Congress MLA Martin M Danggo resigned from the Assembly in June. A by-election will also be held for the South Tura seat, which fell vacant following the resignation of sitting MLA Agatha Sangma.