Chief Election Commissioner treks 18 km to reach remote polling station in Uttarakhand

Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, trekked for 18 kilometres to reach a remote polling station in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district three days before the elections were scheduled.

Leading from the front by example, Rajiv Kumar, trekked for 18 km to a polling station in a remote village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. Giving examples of areas where there are remote polling stations, the CEC said reaching booths in J&K, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Uttarakhand is a difficult task.

The election officers reached the booths 3 days before the polling day.

In a statement, the CEC said, “This polling station in Dumak village is in a remote location. I want to motivate poll workers who take around three days to reach such areas ahead of every election.”

This is not the first time the newly appointed CEC has taken the road less travelled, to set an example.

Earlier in May, he and the other election commissioners decided to reduce the number of leave travel concessions in a year.

Also, the commission has decided that the CEC and ECs will not take any income tax benefits which are currently available to them.