GILGIT, Oct 8: Some 4,000 polling workers are facing a host of problems in conducting the Oct 12-13 elections to 24 seats of the Northern Areas Legislative Council and local bodies.

Reaching constituencies scattered over an area of 72,000 square kilometres is the major problem as the government has not provided any transport facility to the election staff, said an official, adding that they had been told to proceed to the polling stations, some located in the vicinity of the Line of Control, along with the election material.

"We have no idea how to conduct elections. It seems we have been made polling assistants only because we are government servants. But we have been provided with no facilities needed to do the job," a female polling assistant complained.

Some polling officers said they had been vested with magisterial powers, but they were not sure if they would be reimbursed for the expenditures they would be making while performing their duties.

They said they had been imparted training but added that it had been done in a haphazard manner. They did not elaborate. They expressed concern over the poor communication facilities in the region, saying they would be unable to inform the returning officers about the situation if any law and order problem arose.

The polling officials further said that transporting ballot boxes back to the returning officers from distant places would also be a serious problem. "Neither have they provided us with any helping staff nor any vehicle to shift the ballot boxes to the returning officers once the polling is over," they said.

Recalling the 1999 elections, they said they were never paid their TA and DA allowances. Talking to this correspondent, an official of the Northern Areas Election Commission appeared to allay the apprehensions expressed by the polling staff.