Jamshedpur, Dec 17: The East Singhbhum district administration is gearing up to make all the necessary arrangements for the counting of votes on December 23.
According to information, the administration will deploy 22 magistrates and 77 police officials to supervise the votes counting exercise that will get off sharply at 8 a.m. at the strong room, the Jamshedpur Co-operative College, amid the presence of Special Armed Police, (SAP) jawans.
The Deputy Commissioner-cum-returning officer, Ravi Shankar Shukla has asked the personnel involved in counting exercise to report at the strong room before 6 a.m. however, the political parties representatives will be allowed inside the strong room sometime around the start of the counting exercise.
Sources informed that at first counting of postal ballots will be carried out by the DC-cum-district returning officer at his table. Thereafter counting of EVM votes will commence. There will be assembly-wise arrangement of counting halls. There are six counting halls. There would be 14 counting tables along with one table for assistant returning officer (ARO) in each counting hall.
All though, district police personnel too, will be on duty outside the strong room but the responsibility of providing security to the four boundaries of the Co-operative College rests with SAP. All the magistrates have been asked to get tough with the potential trouble makers and in this connection strict orders have been imposed for closing down the liquor shops.
The counting will get off sharply at 8 a.m. and by 4.30 in the evening the exercise will possibly culminate including, the formality of handing over the merit certificate to the winning candidate.
Meanwhile, in every nook and corner of the city the discussions are on full swing over the fate of contestants in fray for State Assembly.
The administration has already announced that all wines shops in the district will remain close on December 23, in the light of votes counting exercise and under fool proof safety arrangements.
Strict vigil will be on districts sharing borders with Bengal include, East Singhbhum, Seraikela Kharsawan, Ranchi, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Jamtara, Dumka and Pakur.
On the other hand the returning officer informed that a media center will be set up at the administrative complex of the counting centre, to facilitate the media for the coverage of the whole election process. All communication facilities would be provided to scribes, he added.
�As per the instructions no person other than candidates, their election/ counting agents, public servants on election duty or persons authorised by Election Commission shall enter the counting premises at the time of counting of votes,� he noted.
The parties have been asked to submit a list of agents for each assembly segment. The political parties have imparted training on their own to the agents.
