Giving a tint of awareness, Assam makes usable toilet and two child norm mandatory for aspiring panchayat poll candidates

Guwahati, November 11: With Assembly polls going underway in Chhattisgarh and headed to conducting in several other states as well, the state of Assam has come with a unique condition for the upcoming panchayat polls. The Assam State Election Commission (SEC) has made usable toilet and a two-child norm mandatory for all aspiring candidates of the upcoming panchayat polls.

 

The Panchayat polls in Assam will be held in two phases on December 5 and December 9 in 26 districts and 14 civil sub-divisions. The counting will take place on December 12.

HN Bora, State Election Commissioner said, “The decision of making a usable toilet compulsory has been taken to make cleanliness a priority in society. The candidates having more than two children, except in exceptional cases, would not be eligible to contest the polls. The voters not listed in NRC draft list would not be barred from exercising their voting rights.50 per cent seats would be reserved for women.”

A total of 1,56,41,456 voters will exercise their franchise out of which 8,12,38,35 are male and 7,51,76,21 are female voters. A total of 23,505 polling stations will be set up out of which 8243 polling stations have been marked as ‘sensitive’ and 3665 as ‘very sensitive’.

The last day to file nomination is November 15. Re-polling will take place on December 7 and December 11.