Lok Sabha General Elections Security Arrangements Good Practices Followed Presented By: Asim Arun DIG Gorakhpur

Stage 1: Preparation Polling Center Security Survey Form: Good quality advance preparation Police officers and magistrates visited villages and mohallas and organized meetings Without standardization there is no method of ensuring quality Visiting officers were expected to fill up the form after their meeting The contents were classified as confidential and every successive officer visiting the village/ mohalla checked the veracity and quality of the information collected previously

Stage 1: Preparation This survey formed the basis of preventive action Strict enforcement of the model code of conduct The DM and SSP organized meetings with the candidates at regular intervals Good opportunity to spell out the rules of the game and remove most misunderstandings Straight talk at such meetings convinced all those involved that the administration was committed towards providing a level playing field

Stage 2: Party Dispatch Use of a locally designed computer software. Duty card was loaded with a lot of information: names and phone numbers of the entire supervisory chain and, fellow police personnel at the polling center. Customized Attendance Sheets could be printed and used to ensure better discipline and performance. Unit-wise, name-wise printouts proved useful in sharing more and more information with the people involved.

Stage 3: Poll Day The security survey form was handed to the senior-most police person at the center. He was expected to understand the background of the village and the preventive action taken. It also included a list of potential trouble makers. This officer was required to prepare a security plan for his center on a paper and brief all his colleagues. He was expected to fill a one-page feedback form about their experience on the poll day. This would, in turn, form the basis for future election arrangements. All forms were audited and bound together for safe keeping at the police station.

Problems faced in Police Arrangements In a five-phase election the police force has to make large scale movement across the state. E.g. Aligarh's force moved across the state: Aligarh- Mau- Sant Kabir Nagar- Jalaun- Aligarh- Bijnore- Aligarh. While this was not much of a problem for the CPMFs and PAC it created a number of serious problems for the civil police- Districts were left with just a skeleton force that was barely sufficient to guard police premises for nearly a month. Criminals soon noticed the absence of the force and serious spurts in violent and property crimes could be noticed.

Problems faced in Police Arrangements Large scale movement of civil police required hiring of roadways buses. However, as there was a gap of 5-6 days between each poll hardly anyone used the bus. While empty buses moved from one place to another the policemen could not resist the temptation and left for the homes, often with their weapons. This caused grave indiscipline and very ugly and embarrassing situation in the trains.

Problems faced in Police Arrangements For the district going to poll in the last phase, most of the force was away for 26 preceding days! This greatly hampered the police arrangements. Our deployment strategy aims at preventing movement of armed criminals who can capture booths and cast hundreds of bogus votes. While this was true earlier, the nature of the problem has changed substantially. Now the problems, at least in UP, are impersonation, intimidation of voters, bribing of voters, etc.

Problems faced in Police Arrangements Suggestions: Instead of large geographical blocks of phases groups of 5 contiguous parliamentary constituencies should be created. The phases should rotate within this group. The police as well as other resources- vehicles, cameras, personnel, etc should be shared. The Commissioner and Range IG or DIG should be assigned the task of ensuring sharing of resources.