20K Greater Chennai Corporation employees deployed on poll duty

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has deployed at least 20,000 employees to man 3,726 polling booths and to oversee arrangements such as managing EVMs, pre-poll preparations, logistics and monitor CCTV cameras. The city has a 48,69,518-strong electorate.
A total of 299 zonal teams have been deployed to monitor the booths, and one team can monitor up to 10 to 17 booths, said GCC commissioner J Radhakrishnan on Thursday. Voting will begin at 7am and go on till 6pm.
All 4,842 VVPAT machines have undergone two rounds of randomization trials and no problems were detected, said GCC officials.
“A mock poll will be held at 5.30am on Friday and if any issue is detected, the machines will be replaced. We have additional supplementary machines in stock,” said Radhakrishnan.
GCC has tied up with Uber to transport disabled people. Senior citizens will be given a priority, he said, adding that disabled people could download the Saksham App, or call 1950 or 1800-425-7012 to book vehicles.
Hearing-impaired voters can call or WhatsApp 91501-95275 for volunteer assistance.
The GCC has released the list of 16 strong rooms where the EVMs will be kept after polling. On June 4, counting will take place at Anna University, Loyola College and Queen Mary’s College.