Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada district administration has shifted the election counting centre to NITK, Surathkal, from the earlier venue of MGM College in Bondel.This change has come after officials faced several shortcomings during the assembly election, when the counting process was held at Bondel, which is situated on the Mangaluru International Airport road. For a long time, in Dakshina Kannada, counting for elections was held in Karnataka (Govt.) Polytechnic (KPT) and it was later shifted to Canara College, after which it was shifted to MGM College in Bondel.Sasikanth Senthil, deputy commissioner, speaking to STOI, said due to several factors, the election counting centre has been shifted to the sprawling NITK, Surathkal, campus. During the last assembly election, there were problems in storing of EVMs and VVPATs, which needed a lot of space, and there was a need for more rooms. “NITK, Surathkal, has ample space, and students are on leave when the election process is on. It is a safe place and away from the city. So officials have decided to zero in on this place,” he said, adding that the election counting centre is far from the city limits, and wouldn’t cause any hassle to the common man.Other factors involved in choosing a counting centre include having strong rooms that have to be guarded for a month after voting day. The campus is in a secluded place. The campus has amenities like high-end CCTV cameras, conference rooms, availability of internet, parking space and other facilities.In Dakshina Kannada district, counting for the Lok Sabha election in 2009 was held at Canara College, after which it was shifted to MGM College, Bondel. However, counting at these centres caused the public inconvenience, as there were traffic pileups across the city, due to many vehicles used by party workers. During the last assembly election, counting was done at MGM Bondel, which caused severe inconvenience to people travelling to Mangalore International Airport.In UdupiThe election counting centre in Udupi district too has been shifted to St Cecily’s School in Ajjarakad for similar reasons as in Dakshina Kananda district. Earlier it was held in the TA Pai English Medium School in Kunjibettu.

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