VISAKHAPATNAM: GVMC Commissioner and Additional Election Officer Ketan Garg on Friday inspected polling stations, strong rooms and the distribution centre in Bheemunipatnam Zone and directed officials to ensure the smooth conduct of the Second Ordinary Elections to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).
Accompanied by GVMC Additional Commissioner PM Satyaveni, he reviewed the arrangements for five wards in the zone at St. Ann’s English Medium School, where the distribution centre, strong rooms and polling stations have been set up.
Garg directed officials to ensure the safe custody and timely distribution of election materials and asked polling personnel to perform their duties without lapses. He instructed Returning Officers, Route Officers, Sector Officers and police personnel to work in coordination and familiarise themselves with the election guidelines.
He directed officials to issue a show-cause notice to Returning Officer V Satish Raju for negligence in performing election duties. He warned that he could be suspended if his conduct did not improve.
A total of 78 polling stations have been set up for the five wards in Bheemunipatnam Zone. Two Returning Officers, 84 Presiding Officers, 84 Assistant Presiding Officers and 263 other polling personnel have been deployed for the elections.
The Commissioner instructed Bheemunipatnam Zonal Commissioner Vijay Kumar to ensure that the distribution centre had help desks, registration counters, counters for polling officers, micro-observers and videographers, a public address system, food counters and police counters. He also directed officials to distribute election materials to the concerned personnel within the stipulated time.
Later, Garg inspected a polling station at the GVMC Primary School in Banglametta, Tagarapuvalasa, and instructed officials to provide essential facilities to voters and ensure that they faced no inconvenience while casting their votes. He also enquired with BLOs about the door-to-door distribution of voter information slips and directed them to ensure that all eligible voters received the slips in time.
