Sindh caretaker home minister Brig. (retd) Haris Nawaz on Wednesday said that 6,457 of the polling stations in the province have been designated highly sensitive from the point of view of security for the general elections scheduled to be held on February 8.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Wednesday, the interim minister said that 5,954 polling stations have been designated normal and 6,593 sensitive.
He told the media that some 115,030 police officers and personnel would perform duties to maintain law and order in the province on Election Day. He said that 1,984 Pakistan Army soldiers would perform their duties as the Quick Response Force on Election Day.
He also said that the services of the personnel of the Anti-Corruption Establishment, the forest department, the Frontier Constabulary and other such agencies would also be availed by the caretaker government for maintaining security on Election Day.
He informed the media that the interim chief minister has ordered releasing financial assistance required by all the relevant government agencies and departments for ensuring peaceful, impartial and transparent general elections in the province.
He claimed that the law and order situation in the province is normal, saying that the interim government has been making the best possible efforts to improve security in the province.
He remarked that closed-circuit television cameras are being installed at 4,500 polling stations across the province for electronic surveillance of the polling process. He added that solar power systems would be installed at the polling stations lacking electricity so that the polling process can be conducted smoothly.
Brig. Nawaz told the media that a top-level meeting was held the other day in Karachi and attended by the relevant federal and provincial authorities to review the security arrangements being made for peacefully holding elections in the province.
Speaking at the KPC press briefing, Sindh interim information minister Muhammad Ahmed Shah said that an election cell would be established to facilitate the media to cover the polls in the province.
Shah said the election cell would remain functional round the clock to provide maximum facilitation to journalists. He said journalists associated with the digital media wings of media houses would be issued passes to cover the elections.
There will be a complete ban on the display of weapons during the polls, he added. He informed the media that the police, the Rangers and the army are fully prepared to take swift action to tackle any security situation in the province in order to maintain security.
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