SP of Naxal-affected district awarded for better voter turnout

New Delhi, Jan 25: The police chief of the worst Naxal-affected district in Maharashtra and a team of poll officials in an Assembly constituency in Pune were among those awarded here on the National Voters Day for increasing voter participation and bettering election process.

Gadchiroli's Superintendent of Police Mhd Suvez Haque was awarded for a comprehensive planning of security infrastructure as a result of which the left-wing extremism- affected district witnessed the fifth-highest voting percentage in the state as the voter turnout increased from 65.91 per cent in 2009 to 69.84 per cent in 2014.

District Election Officer (DEO) Saurabh Rao and Returning Officer Jyoti Kadam of Pune ensured they put out the "fastest" results during the Assembly polls counting in the state last year in the Parvati seat of the said district.

The officers, who were personally praised by CEC HS Brahma and awarded by former President APJ Abdul Kalam, declared the results of this particular seat in a record time of 110 minutes.

Among the other awardees were the DEO of Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir Shahid Iqbal who was honoured for initiating a voter awareness programme called 'Jashn-e-Jamhuriat' which led to an overall increase of 38 per cent in voter turnout in the district from 43 per cent in 2009 to 81 per cent in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Income-Tax department's Director General (Investigations) for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Amrendra K Tiwary were awarded for effective deployment of surveillance teams to curb blackmoney during polls while Bhatinda's (Punjab) Additional Deputy Commissioner Sonali Giri was recognised for making good use of technology and developing an Android application 'i-vote' for easy access to election-related information to the electorate.

PTI