The Malda district administration has planned to have a voting booth exclusively managed by females at every single developmental block in Malda for the three-tier panchayat election starting 1 May.

The district administration has already planned their action and has selected females to execute the process though all the female government employees will not be included in this year’s election process, claimed district administrative sources.

Along with this, it has also been decided to depute a nodal officer in every block to smoothen the process of filing nomination of the candidates, it is learnt.

The District Panchayat & Rural Development Officer and the Officer in Charge (panchayat election), Sukanta Saha, said, “The selected women will not be sent to the far off booths but will be deputed in the lone booths at the headquarters of every block. Each block will have an observer and there will be one observer for the whole district. We have already appointed officers of the deputy magistrate as nodal officers to carry out the works smoothly in every block. They are also handling other paper works very efficiently.”

According to the district election cell, Malda is ready for the elections and almost eighteen thousand polling persons have been selected though the actual need is 15444 heads for completion of the polling.

A few women have also been selected to execute the plan of the district administration to constitute a polling station managed exclusively by women in each block headquarter.

Further, it is also learned that almost 2547342 voters will apply their democratic power this year throughout Malda.

Candidates of different political parties have contested on 38 seats in the zilla parishad, 423 seats in the panchayat samity and 2281 seats in the gram panchayats this year and for this 2576 polling stations including 121 auxiliary booths are being set up to cast votes by the people.

There will be 1322 single, 529 double, 56 triple booths in the district whereas 7 places will have four booths under one roof. Kaliachak-I is leading the list of polling booths with 261 whereas Old Malda is at the tail with only 112, it is learnt.