As Bihar gets ready for its assembly elections, a familiar face from the local community will be taking on a new and important role at the polling booths. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that Anganwadi workers will be present at every polling station to help with the voter identification process.The main task for these workers will be to verify the identity of women who come to vote wearing a burqa or a ghunghat (veil). Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar confirmed this decision during a press conference, explaining that this measure is being taken to ensure the process is smooth and respects all voters while following established rules.He stated, “Our anganwadi workers will be deployed at all polling booths for verifying the identity of burqa-clad women. The guidelines of the commission are very clear about this – that how identity is verified inside a polling station, and they will be strictly followed.This move came after Bihar’s BJP president, Dilip Jaiswal, urged the Election Commission to set up a system to ensure the faces of women in burqas could be matched with their voter ID cards.[The idea is to prevent any possibility of fraudulent voting while being handled sensitively by women from the community itself.The Bihar assembly elections for the state's 243 seats are set to happen in two phases on November 6 and 11, with the votes being counted on November 14 This small but practical step of including Anganwadi workers is aimed at strengthening the fairness and transparency of the democratic process for everyone involved.
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