Lack of planning leaves election officers starving

The meeting was organised at Subhashini Vidya Samsthe, which is on the outskirts of the town, and was attended by more than 500 election officers from all the taluks. Since the venue of the meeting was outside the town, it made it difficult for the officers to travel back to the town during the break for lunch. Moreover there were no hotels or eateries nearby.

Food allowance

As a result, the election officers were left with no choice but to starve themselves. The government pays election officers Rs 100 as food allowance for four days –– the two preparatory meetings over two days, the day before the polling day and the polling day itself.

But the Rs 100 is barely enough for a day, especially when the meetings are held this far away from the town, many officers said and added that their repeated requests had fallen on deaf ears.