(Left) Women polling personnel at the booth in Balurghat and

Balurghat/Raiganj, June 29: The South and North Dinajpur district administrations turned to all-women teams during today’s municipal elections. The decision was inspired by the efficiency shown by women in the recent panchayat polls in Bankura.

In Balurghat, where the civic body went to the polls, the all-women team took charge of a booth in Ward 3. In Raiganj, only a bypoll was held in Ward 22 of the municipality, where women were on duty at the booth.

Even the security personnel in both the booths in the two adjoining districts comprised women.

The subdivisional officer of Balurghat, Krishna Mardi, who is the returning officer for the elections, said the idea had occurred to her after the panchayat polls. “I had suggested an all-women booth to district magistrate Swapan Kumar Chatterjee who readily okayed it,” she added.

security personnel at the Raiganj booth. Pictures by Ramen Mondal and Nantu Dey

Sabita Basak, the presiding officer of the booth, said she and her colleagues were feeling honoured for the responsibility given to them. “I have been working in the government for the past 35 years, but this is the first time I am on election duty. We were all tensed when polling began, but gradually got the hang of it,” she said.

The North Dinajpur district magistrate, Sukumar Bhattacharyya, said during the panchayat polls, 8,000 polling personnel were needed. “We fell short by 1,500 and requested Malda and Darjeeling districts to send us people. But at the last moment, they could not and we had to turn to the central government employees and para-teachers for the job.”

The decision to involve women in the polling process was taken then, Bhattacharyya said. “We had an all-party meeting before the bypoll and it was decided that even the polling agents of the candidates will have to be women as well as the security personnel.”

According to North Dinajpur district police chief Swapan Banerjee Purnapatra, the presence of women police helped raise the confidence of the polling personnel and the agents.

The presiding officer of the booth, Mousumi Saha, sounded upbeat. “We are confident that we can carry out the polling duty again,” she said.