I was stunned at first when the call to attend training for election duty as presiding officer for the Assembly elections 2011 in Kerala was received. Not only was this my first experience, but it was also a breach of company’s practice not to send technical staff for outside duty such as this. The message came only a day before the training and we went to Parur municipal town hall on Mar 23 for the program. They had called 200 people for that session and utter confusion prevailed. After filling up some essential requirements, we were photographed and an experienced guy from revenue department presented the various aspects of polling and the activities required to be carried out. The honorarium was also paid out at the end of the program.
Hectic activities were initiated by the company to get some of the essential staff exempted from duty to avoid the need for shutting down plants for shortage of personnel. Some were spared, but some others were put in their places. The talk of the work place for the next one week was the ways to wriggle out of election duty. No easy solution was proposed by anybody. After two weeks, another training program was announced, this time at the Govt Girls HSS, Ernakulam on Apr 5. This time, there was no coordination at all on the part of revenue department, who are the organizers of the electoral process. There were no instructions displayed and what was more glaring than the general confusion was the complete inefficiency of the revenue department of Kerala. As per the manual issued by Election Commission of India, the department was bound to provide assistance for issue of postal ballots to the officers who have to undergo election duty. Not only was this arranged, but the organizers had no idea what to do to obtain postal ballots. The incompetence of these guys were amply observed by all the people present.
The poll was scheduled on Apr 13, 2011. I reported at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam from where I was posted to Tripunithura constituency. There were three polling officers in my team and when I called the first on his mobile, he seemed surprised to hear me and informed that he won’t be coming because he had convinced the returning officer that he was closely aligned to a political party which goes against the practice of the commission to allow such people to conduct election. A spare guy was posted from the reserve list. We collected polling material including electronic voting and control units. After confirming everything was order, we boarded the bus at 12.30 pm to go to the polling station along with the crew for six other stations. Naturally, the vehicle had to wait for the last team to arrive.
The real shock came when we reached the spot. When we first heard the name of the station, Saraswathivilasam UP School, Nettoor, we hadn’t thought it to be such a dilapidated structure with no sanitary facilities! It had no rooms, only bays with half-walls. Even though it was a school, facilities for toilet and urinals were non-existent. A latrine was there, but was locked. When it was finally opened after much heckling it was immediately closed again, seeing the pathetic state it was in! After several phone calls by outraged officials, facility was provided at nearby homes for primary requirements. After taking lunch at a nearby restaurant, we set up the station. We had to stay the night there because of the voting machines and polling material being kept there. Kochi is notorious for mosquitoes and even though Nettoor is not exactly in the city, as far as mosquitoes were concerned, it was determined not to be second to it. There were occasions when the bunch of mosquitoes seemed to lift us from out makeshift beds. The only consolation was the number of bats which frequently flew into rooms and which seemed to eat some of the insects! Sleep was out of the question.
I woke up at 4am on the polling day and by 5.30, our team was ready. Mock poll (a process to ensure that every button on the machine is working and it is counting votes properly) was done at 6 am in the presence of polling agents of various political parties. By 6.30, we sealed the machine and polling started exactly at 7am as instructed by the authorities. Polling proceeded smoothly, the atmosphere being cordial and friendly. The polling agents, even though they belonged to rival parties had no personal or political enmity between them and helped each other and ourselves. Probably the political workers in Kannur which is notorious for political violence may take a lesson or two from their bretheren at Ernakulam! They also provided with food and drink at regular intervals. There were some hitches from our side to which I needn’t go into detail. Everything was sorted out in the end at 5pm. A total of 75% votes were polled in that station. After-poll formalities were completed and room was properly cleaned with assistance from the polling agents. A word must be said here about the good conduct of the agents of CPM, the Marxists. They were present throughout and helped us a lot. Not that the agents of Congress didn’t cooperate, but they left as soon as the poll was over. CPM’s agents actively helped us during the entire period. This is not because I have any sympathy for that party, as can be evidenced by the other blogs in this series. But a word of thanks is due to them.
The school was in such a poor state with no breathing space, but four stations were set up there. We boarded the bus at 6.30 pm, which left the place one hour later, collecting people from all stations along the route. We reached the collection centre at 8 pm and after handing over materials, were relieved of our duties and started back home at 8.30 pm.
This was my first experience and I hope I wouldn’t have to go in future. But, apart from the requirement of staying in the station for the previous night, the things are not troublesome and can also be enjoyed if you are inclined to do so!
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