Bhubaneswar: Ahead of panchayat elections in Odisha, State Election Commissioner Aditya Padhy on Friday informed that central counting will be conducted at block offices in stead of booth-level.
Briefing mediapersons, Padhy said,”Collectors have been asked to submit a report by October 26 after completing of delimitation of wards and reservation of seats in their respective districts.”
“An electoral roll will be prepared at Ward and Panchayat level on the basis of 2021 voters’ list. Guidelines for the same will be issued soon,” he said.
“For the first time, central counting will be done for the panchayat elections. Earlier, counting was being done at the polling booths itself. Now, we will keep the ballot boxes in the strong rooms at block level. Temporary polling station will be set up in areas having no proper facilities,” said Padhy.
The Odisha Assembly had on September 8 passed the Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021. The Bill, which provides reservation ceiling at 50 per cent for SC, ST and OBC, has effectively cleared all the legal impediments restricting the conduct of the panchayat polls scheduled for early 2022.
