26 September 2004	Sunday	10 Shaban 1425

GILGIT, Sept 25: The Northern Areas administration has declared 121 polling stations as sensitive ahead of the forthcoming elections for the Northern Areas Legislative Council and local bodies, excluding Gilgit district.

The Northern Areas Election Commissioner Muhammad Ghazi Khan told journalists on Saturday that 38 polling stations had been declared sensitive in Gangche district, 35 in Diamer, 26 in Skardu and 22 in Ghizer.

He said that c comprehensive security plan had been chalked out for elections and troops' deployment had also been requested, depending on the situation.

Mr Khan said that a total of 878 polling stations had been set up in the five districts of the region and complaints lodged by the voters and candidates were being heard and necessary steps were being taken to ensure transparency and impartiality in the upcoming elections.

He said they had allotted election symbols to political parties on Saturday but they faced problems in getting ballot papers printed as the regional election commissioner was not vested with financial powers to arrange funds for preparation of the election material.

The Northern Areas' home secretary, Jamil Ahmed, said that the commission was independent and was empowered to arrange and utilize its budget in the elections.

The election commissioner said that they were supposed to print ballot papers by Sept 30 and their delivery to the deputy election commissioners was to be ensured by Oct 2, adding that because of financial problems, they were yet to proceed with the printing of ballot papers.