In poll season, firsts for CRPF

As more than one lakh troops of the CRPF and other Central armed police forces spread themselves thin to successfully make way for the biggest polling exercise in any democracy in the world beginning April 7, this Indian election season has brought winds of change to the toiling life of the average Indian jawan who has quietly trudged every election summer last sixty years little knowing where his next stop would be, from the cold peaks in J&K to the hot and humid climes of Bihar to down south Kerala.

Speaking to this newspaper, CRPF DG Dilip Trivedi tells how this election journey is different for the less talked about jawan on a day when the Central forces complete the mammoth exercise of deployment across 29 states on Wednesday.

From the traditional cooking on logs of wood as they parked their bogies off railway tracks to cook khichdi, the jawans are being served packed food boxes of the IRCTC at the stations where the trains halt. The CRPF boss said the Indian railways is setting a “world record’’ of sorts as nearly six lakh food packets are being provided daily for the troops movement — which will carry on for the nine-phased election between April 7 and May 12, the highest number of phases for a general elections so far.

For the CRPF, this is a small beginning in the many “firsts’’ to the election journey of its troops. This time round a detailed plan has been worked out by the forces in consultation with the EC and home ministry where each company knows its poll schedule allowing the jawans to prepare in advance, stock appropriate clothing, inform families and break free from a life of uncertainty. For the first time, a Unique Identity Number has been provided to each Central Armed Police Forces company, on the move from any part of the country — to help the district administration identify them and prepare for their arrival and subsequent deployment, pointed out Mr Trivedi who made a detailed presentation to the EC which finally put its stamp of approval to the troop deployment plan which was then shared with all state governments.

The company commanders for the first time have been given exclusive mobile phones with numbers made available to the concerned state authorities for quick liaison, the expenses of which will be borne by the forces.

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In the deep Maoist interiors where the threat is very high, care has been taken to undergo the polling process during the moon-lit fortnight and not the dark fortnight — a lesson learnt after closely observing the challenges faced during Assembly polls in deep interiors of Chattisgarh. The gun-wielding jawan will also cast his vote through postal ballot.

Source:http://www.asianage.com/india/poll-season-firsts-crpf-753