Dimapur, Feb. 3(EMN): Ever since the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the assembly elections for Nagaland, owners of private vehicle owners have been on a hide-mode. The reason? The administration is on duty to “requisition” (a fancy word to mean taking over) vehicles for election duty.
That’s the one reason why private vehicle owners are avoiding the road on days of requisition. Sec-160 to the Representation of the People Act of 1951 empowers the govt. to take over vehicles for election-related work.
The administrator of the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) Moa Sangtam said on Fri. that around 1250 vehicles would be required for election duty for Dimapur district alone. So far though, the district authorities have been able to occupy around 800 vehicles only.
There are only 250 government vehicles—likely not enough for master trainers, sector officers, and mobile squads who will be on duty. Personnel on election duty will require vehicles and without private vehicles and their ‘cooperation,’ it will not be possible, said Sangtam.
About 200 taxis and alfa auto rickshaw (the large, higher-capacity auto rickshaws), 15 Nagaland State Transport (NST) buses, and 50 school buses will be required. According to sec-161 to the Representation of the People Act of 1951, whenever a vehicle is requisitioned, the owner of the vehicle shall be compensated by the state government.
Dimapur’s Deputy Commissioner Sushil Kumar Patel said requisition of vehicles from Assam is also in process with the transport commissioner because of shortage of vehicles in Nagaland.
The district authorities have sought ‘support’ from vehicle owners for smooth operation of election work in the state.
