Mumbai: Citing the death of a few on-duty officers at polling booths, an advocate has moved the HC seeking directions to the Election Commission of India and also the government to provide basic amenities and medical care facilities at polling stations during the LS polls.
The petitioner — advocate Deepak Chattopadhyay has filed a writ petition seeking “stern” directions to the authorities for providing medical and sanitation facilities. “The polling duty officials are working for more than 14 hours a day during elections.
During all this, these officials have no access to proper medical care, neither an ambulance at the spot of a polling booth and nor hygienic sanitation arrangements. These facilities are not provided to officials and the voters,” Chattopadhyay has highlighted in his petition.
The petition further states that majority of these officials are middle-aged govt servants and they suffer from various ailments. “Thus, they must be provided with basic medical amenities. It may be noted that absence of basic medical and sanitation facilities is akin to depriving them of their fundamental rights,” the petition states.
By his petition, Chattopadhyay has urged the court to direct the authorities to ensure at least one ambulance and a trained medical staff is stationed outside every polling booth so as to attend any kind of medical emergency. The petition is likely to be heard next week.
