BHOPAL: As many as 1,774 polling booths across 1,688 villages in Madhya Pradesh do not have proper mobile connectivity.This will prove to be a hurdle for the Election Commission to be connected with such booths during the upcoming assembly elections.Earlier, the Election Commission used to deploy “runners” at such booths during polls, who would run every two hours from the booth to the nearest location which had mobile connectivity.This time around, the EC has decided to use technology to tackle the communication issued during polls.As per information available with the telecom companies of the state, around 5,500 villages in the state do not have any form of mobile communication network , said sources.In a survey conducted by the EC, 1,688 villages were found to have no network connectivity. The EC has asked telecom service providers to expedite their expansion plans to cover the 1,688 villages before the elections. EC officials have shared the information and village codes with the telecom companies. Whatever villages are left, the commission will use wireless technology to relay messages.“The wireless sets used by police and relay system would be used to transfer messages. For example, if one polling booth is behind a hill, then one set will be placed at the booth, another would be at the hill and another would be beyond the hill, thus passing messages from one to the other and information would be received almost in real time,” said an official.When contacted, state chief electoral officer V L Kanta Rao said, “We have held meetings with the telecom companies. They were asked to share their expansion plans, besides expediting their work so as to cover maximum number of polling booths before polls. Alternative arrangement would be made if some villages remain in shadow areas at the time of polls”.

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