Ranga Reddy district braces for panchayat elections with focus on transparency

RANGAREDDY: As the panchayat elections are inching closer, the Raga Reddy district administration is pushing hard over authorities asking them to set the room in order and ensure transparency in the poll process scheduled to begin from December 11.

In a three-phase poll battle, 526 gram panchayat and 4,668 wards will give mandate for which 4,682 polling stations have been identified by the administration.

The first phase will cover seven mandals, Farooqnagar, Shamshabad, Kothur, Nandigama, Keshampet, Kondurg and Chowderguda, where a number of 174 GPs and 1530 wards exist. While Farooqnagar, Kothur, Nandigama, Keshampet, Kondurg and Chowderguda come under the Shadnagar revenue division, Rajendranagar revenue division has only one, Shamshabad, mandal to witness polls.

The second phase will cover eight mandals, Moinabad, Shankarpally, Chevella, Shabad, Amangal, Kadthal and Talakondlapally, under the Chevella and Kandukur revenue divisions. These mandals have 178 GPs and 1,540 wards. Here 1,540 polling stations have been identified, according to officials.

The last phase will saw polling in six mandals, Abdullapurmet, Ibrahimpatnam, Yacharam, Manchal, Madgul, Maheshwaram and Kandukur, where 174 GPs and 1,598 wards are to give mandate.

As part of the election process, the administration is conducting randomisation programmes for the poll staff. On Tuesday, a second phase of randomisation was held at the collectorate. Observer Prashant Jeevan Patil was accompanied by collector C Narayan Reddy, who is also the district election officer.

The presiding officers and OPOs were allocated gram panchayats and wards where they will perform duty. To ensure transparency and avoid favouritism, non-local staff was deployed for poll duty through randomisation. According to officials, 20% staff was included in the randomisation of presiding officers and OPOs.

The observer suggested the presiding officers should be alert in every manner and fully aware of their role as laid down by the Election Commission. He warned officials against negligence while performing poll duty. The randomisation program also saw the presence of additional collector Srinivas and ZP CEO Krishna Reddy, besides nodal officers and election duty staff.