NEW DELHI: Most people see conduct of polls in Bengal as a tough challenge given the politically surcharged atmosphere in the state. But some tough women officers in charge of key districts are shouldering the responsibility of election management with a steely resolve.
In the last two phases on April 1 and 6, some women IAS officers who have held fort as district election officers (DEO) include Antara Acharya in South 24 Parganas, Mukta Arya in Howrah, P Deepa Priya in Hooghly, Smita Pandey in Purba Medinipur, Rashmi Kamal in Pashchim Medinipur and K Radhika Aiyar in Bankura.
Leading by example is Mukta Arya, the DM and DEO of Howrah, who lost her father a day before polling in her district. In fact, when TOI reached out to her on Thursday, Arya politely informed this reporter that she was in the middle of immersion of her father’s ashes and would revert later. And so she did, telling TOI the sudden demise of her father came on a day that started with him giving her a pep-talk
KOLKATA: Despite losing her father a day earlier, Howrah district magistrate Mukta Arya was quickly back at her desk to play her poll role as parts of the district went to polls in the third phase of the Bengal elections on Tuesday.
Arya, a 2008 batch IAS officer, lost her father on Monday evening. The father suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and passed away at her official residence in Howrah. Arya, however, spent the whole of Tuesday in the election control room, sending reports and coordinating as rural Howrah went to polls.
Bengal’s third phase polling was, in fact, conducted by three women officers. Apart from Arya, there were South 24-Parganas DM Antara Acharya and Hooghly DM Deepa Priya. A DM officiating as the district election officer is completely in charge of the district’s poll proceedings.
3 women district magistrates to conduct Bengal 3rd phase polls
Mon, Apr 5 2021 15:03 IST |
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3 women district magistrates to conduct Bengal 3rd phase polls. Image Source: IANS News
Kolkata, April 5 : In the third phase when 78,52,425 electorate of the 31 Assembly constituencies spread across three districts of West Bengal will go to polls on April 6, the eyes, however, will be on three women Antara Acharya, Mukta Arya and Deepap Priya P.
The three women are the District Magistrates of South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly respectively, who will be conducting one of the most crucial elections in the state. When the election commission is inspiring the women voters to come forward and take part in the biggest festival of democracy this is unique that all the three district magistrates who will work as District Election Officers (DEO) during the polls are women. This will bolster the confidence of the women and excite them to take part in the polling process,