Our election process has gone hitech with electronic voting machines, but some areas in Tamil Nadu are so backward that these new-age machines have to be taken on the back of donkeys or carried on head by men.
In a few villages devoid of motorable roads in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts, EVMs were transported on Monday and Tuesday on the back of donkeys. In several hilly hamlets in Salem, headload workers assisted polling officials by carrying EVMs and other polling materials through the tough terrain.
At Kottur Hill in Dharmapuri, three donkeys Kamal, Vijay and Sarat carried EVMs and poll materials to the polling booths to hill top. Their owner C Chinnasamy, a dhobi in Dharmapuri town, guided the officials through the four-hour trek. There were two polling booths with over 600 voters over the Kottur hills.
While Chinnasamy and three of the donkeys reached Kottur Hill on Tuesday noon, another donkey owned by him, named Rajani, was carrying poll materials to Emanur, another hilly hamlet with a single polling booth. Both Kottur and Emanur fall under Pennagaram assembly constituency. In Pannavady across Mettur reservoir, election material were taken to the booth in three coracles. Officials climbed the steep hills of Jurukumalai in Veerapandi constituency with the EVM to reach out to about 499 voters, who had no road connectivity. The difficult terrain was inaccessible for even donkeys.
Full Article: Men, donkeys at work to carry EVMs to booths – Times Of India.