Voters in Remote Nepali Village Face 10km Trek to Polling Stations Ahead of Elections

Triveni (Nawalparasi), February 17: Voters in Panger, Nawalpur, Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East), are facing the compulsion of walking 10 kilometers to reach their polling stations. Locals in Hupsekot Rural Municipality-5 of the district are facing problems due to the lack of polling stations in convenient locations.

The House of Representatives election is scheduled for February 21. However, Robahadur Rana, a resident of Panger in Hupsekot Rural Municipality-5, which falls under Nawalpur Constituency No. 2, is already worried about how to reach the polling station to cast his vote. In this ward, which is in the hilly region of the district, voters from Panger have to travel nearly 10 kilometers to reach the Rudrapur polling station, one of the two in the ward.

Voters from Panger and Pangerghat who vote at this polling station take hours to reach it. Locals complain that it is very difficult to go and vote at a polling station located ten kilometers away, especially in the hilly region.

Voters from Panger and Pangerghat are compelled to travel about 10 kilometers via Pokhari to reach the polling station. Since vehicles will not be operating on election day and they have to walk, voters here are compelled to leave for the polling station early in the morning. “The polling center is very far, walking on the hilly route takes three to four hours, vehicles don't run, and everyone has a lot of trouble reaching the polling station,” said local Rana.

Rana mentioned that it was easier to vote in Pangerghat during the previous VDC elections, but they faced problems after it was moved to Rudrapur. He stated that due to the distant polling station, many who cannot walk far might not even go to vote. “It would be easier for us if the polling station was arranged nearby; how will those who find it difficult to walk reach to cast their vote?” he asked.

Voters from Wakhor, Pokhari, Ramche, Dhaulabanseni, Harde, Panger, Pangerghat, and Dhaulabanseni vote at the polling center located at Shiksha Bodhani Basic School in Rudrapur. Since it is a hilly area, the Rudrapur polling station is not conveniently located or short distance for everyone. Padam Bahadur Rana, Ward Chairman of Hupsekot Rural Municipality-5, stated that this polling station is inconvenient for everyone except voters from Harde, Ramche, and Dhaulabadi.

The number of voters casting their ballots at this polling station in Rudrapur is 848. Most polling stations in the hilly region of the district do not have easy access for everyone. When polling centers are designated based on the number of voters in geographically remote areas, the polling center often ends up being far away in terms of distance for many. Nawalpur has 114 polling stations and 311 polling centers.

Nawalpur, which has two House of Representatives constituencies, has a total of 268,526 voters. Among them, Constituency No. 1 has 65,982 male voters, 71,080 female voters, and one other, totaling 137,081 voters. Constituency No. 2 has 63,072 male voters, 68,370 female voters, and three other voters, totaling 131,445 voters.

Women Assigned Responsibility for a Polling Station

In Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East) Nawalpur, one polling station has been assigned to women. Out of the 114 polling stations in Nawalpur, one polling station has been handed over to women.

Yuvraj Panthi, Assistant Election Officer for Nawalpur-2, stated that only female staff have been deployed at the polling station located at Jivan Jyoti Secondary School in Kawasoti Municipality-3, which falls under Constituency No. 2. According to Assistant Election Officer Panthi, there are two polling centers at the Jivan Jyoti Secondary School polling station. He stated that female staff have been mobilized at both polling centers. Deepa Gautam has been appointed as the Polling Officer for Center 'A' here, while Anita Shrestha has been given the responsibility of Polling Officer for Center 'B'.

All staff, including the Polling Officer, at both centers in this location are women. Assistant Election Officer Panthi stated that a total of 12 female staff, six each including the Polling Officer, have been mobilized at each polling center.

He explained that this was done according to the plan to make one polling station a model women-friendly polling station by entrusting its operation solely to women among the polling stations in the district. “We don't have any other plan, we just thought of making it a model women-friendly polling station by entrusting one polling station only to women and mobilized the staff accordingly,” said Assistant Election Officer Panthi.

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