Forty only women polling booth in Maharashtra

Mumbai: In order to encourage women to exercise their right to vote, an all women polling booth will be set up in every Lok Sabha constituency of Maharashtra for the forthcoming elections. As per the Election Commission’s (EC) directions, such polling booths managed entirely by women will be set up in all 40 Lok Sabha seats of the state, the election office announced on Thursday.

Maharashtra has 1.03 lakh polling stations and around 4.57 crore male voters and 4.16 crore female voters.

The staff deployed at these polling stations including police, election officers and other employees will be female. These booths aimed at gender equality and women’s participation in the electoral process will be called “Shakti Matdan Kendras”, a release issued by the EC said.

The EC said that the security of these polling booths will be top priority and that sensitive polling booths will likely be excluded from this project and booths near the tehsil office and police stations will be considered.

The latest data says that the number of women voters has increased in the country in the last five years and as of now, 911 women per 1000 men are voting as compared to 899 per 1000 men in 2014.

The polling dates in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections are April 11, 18, 23 and 29.

The EC had appealed all states last November to introduce all women polling stations. The EC had suggested that these booths be called “Shakti polling booths” or “Pink polling booths”.