Mahe: Only for the second time in the history of elections in India, the polling process in an assembly segment will be fully officiated by women.  Bracing up to embrace a historical moment, a batch of 140 odd women officials have been undergoing training to control the election process on April 19 in Mahe assembly constituency, when the polling to Puducherry Lok sabha constituency is scheduled to be held. Mahe  comes under Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency.

Though it is for the first time in a lok sabha election that women officials controlling the process, earlier women officials had controlled the polling in Raipur (North) assembly seat during the Chhattisgarh assembly election on November 16, 2023.

'It was not a pre-planned event. In the beginning we were only thinking about conducting the election hassle-free', said D Mohankumar, Regional Administrator, Mahe.  But, the number of women officials participating in the first round of randomisation of officials had ignited a spark in the mind of Mohan Kumar, as he thought if the entire election process would be controlled by women officials, it would be a record of sorts in the history of elections.  As he presented the idea before the other officials, it was received with so much zeal and steps were initiated to implement the idea.

There are 31 polling booths in the Mahe assembly segment. There will be four officials managing the polling in each of the booths. Apart from this, there would be officials ready to enter the field as reserve officials in case of emergencies. The number of reserve officials would be enough to manage four booths. 'So, there will be 140 officials controlling the election on April 19', said Dr T Shijith, Assembly Lever Master Trainer.  'We have arranged a confidence boosting session or counseling session for the women officials on April 12.

'We have taken steps to ensure the presence of women police personnel in all the 31 booths in the constituency', Mohan Kumar said.  

Apart from Shijith, other two Assembly Level Master Trainers are M Sadanandan and Dr P Raveendran (expert consultant) . They have been giving training sessions to the team of 140 odd women officials to handle the polling process.

'Office of the Regional Administrator (ARO) has been giving full support to the team to make it an unforgettable chapter. We are a bit excited to be a part of this', Shijith said.

A promo video was released by ARO a couple of days back  highlighting the historical significance of the election which is being controlled by women officials.  Regional Administrator D Mohan Kumar released the video. Deputy Tahsildar Valavil Manoj spoke during the occasion.