Poll staff enthused by 'pink booths'; North East RO says it drew lot of Muslim women voters

New Delhi: "Nari Shakti" was on display in the all-women staffed booths in Delhi on Sunday which drew more women voters, especially from the Muslim community, officials said. In a first for the city, as many as 17 all-woman staffed booths have been established for the Lok Sabha elections in the seven constituencies of Delhi, where from presiding officers to ground staff, all are women. Incidentally, four of the seven district election officer-cum-returning officer are also women, and they too felt quite enthused to see the impact of the initiative.

Chandni Chowk Returning Officer Tanvi Garg said the Delhi CEO Office had envisioned this with a larger aim of engendering a sense of women empowerment and the 'message has been sent'. "We have set up two such booths, one each in Matia Mahal and Model Town Assembly segments. All our polling staff have worked very hard, and these women staffed here are also quite happy to be part of an all-woman team. While women voters were pleased, male voters were also pleasantly surprised," Garg said. Out of the 17 booths, 10 have been set up in East Delhi constituency, two in Chandni Chowk and one each in rest of the constituencies - North East Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, New Delhi and North West Delhi. North East Delhi Returning Officer Shashi Kaushal said the initiative was "very successful" and would "definitely contribute" to push voting percentage of women in this election. "We have set up a pink booth in Zeenat School in an area which is a very Muslim-dominated one. And, in the morning a large number of 'pardanasheen' (in veil) women came to vote. It was so enthusing to see the women in 'burqa' queuing up to exercise their franchise and celebrating the democratic exercise," she said. The women voters were also welcomed with a flower each, she said, adding that girl volunteers were also part of the team. But, more than individual empowerment, it is the large social message of "nari shakti" that has been conveyed to the society, and "aptly showcased". "The decision of setting up of PwD polling booths aims to enhance the confidence of differently-abled and to give them equal opportunity to actively participate in the polling process. The PwD staff are being trained to handle the polling booths," added official.