'Twenty Twenty' proves a hit
KOCHI: Waiting long hours to receive the polling materials, a frenzy to find the concerned officer...the Maharaja's college had resembled a battle field on the poll material distribution day, the previous year, when the local body elections was in fore. For many an election duty official who arrived for duty, it was a frustrating affair.
However, thanks to the 'Twenty twenty' software developed by the district administration this year, the distribution of the polling materials was completeed in less than three hours. Using the software, a SMS was sent to the booth officials, which alerted them of the collection point where the poll materials were kept and also provided the details of the persons assigned to their booths.
This allowed the officials to coordinate the poll materials to the booth in around 20 minutes.
" The software proved a boon for us, especially when we consider the hours we spend on the campus during last years local body elections. We had a tough time finding the booth officials. We had to ask each other where the officials were located. This time, it was easy to find one another through SMS, where we received the names and mobile number of officials through a message," said Manoj, an official who reached the Maharajas College to collect the polling materials.
Polling materials for Tripunithura and Ernakulam were distributed from Maharaja's College on Sunday. Meanwhile, at the other centres such as Bharat Mata College; Nirmala Junior School Auditorium, Muvattupuzha Auditorium; Muvattupuzha Nirmala Higher Secondary School Auditorium, MA College, Kothamangalam, the scenario was similar. " We thought the procedure would last for till 3 pm. It was surprising to see the officials leave the venue by 1.30 pm," said a nearby tea shop owner. When contacted district collector M G Rajamanickam, who mooted the project, confirmed that the project was a success.
" As the SMS reached the presiding officer and booth officials by 6 am, it helped them gather at the venue without any delay. We had also set up a separate counter for ten booths each which helped make the distribution easier," said Rajamanickam.