At Haji Ghulam Mohd Azam Urdu Major College in Pune’s Bhawani Peth, an additional officer is verifying the id of girls voters. As a burqa-clad girl approaches, she stands up and asks her to raise her veil. As soon as her id is confirmed, she is requested to go forward and solid her vote in one of many three cubicles.
This is without doubt one of the 96 polling stations arrange in Pune district that District Collector Suhas Diwase calls “pardhanashin” cubicles—an association made to assist Muslim girls clad in face veils to vote in adherence to their socio-religious norms through the Maharashtra Meeting elections.
Such cubicles are established in areas with sizeable Muslim populations, the place face veils typically make the verification of girls voters’ id a tough process for election officers. A skilled girl officer is deployed in such cubicles for the aim.
“These are all a part of a course of meant to make democracy accessible to everybody. The ‘pardhanashin’ cubicles’ are conceptualised preserving in thoughts the socio-religious norms,” an officer related to one of many cubicles stated.
Of the 96 “pardhanashin” cubicles in Pune district, the bulk are within the Kondhwa, Hadapsar and Bhawani Peth areas of town. Some cubicles in Kasba Peth are additionally designated as “pardhanashin”.
Click on right here to hitch Categorical Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated record of our tales
