LAHORE, Aug 11: Four more districts in the Punjab have been declared as sensitive for local body polls. The was decided at a meeting of district returning officers (DROs) from all 35 districts of the province held at the Civil Secretariat here on Thursday to review law and order and implementation of the code of conduct.

Chief election commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was in the chair.

The four districts were Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Bahawalpur and Jhang. Earlier six districts Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Multan had been declared as sensitive.

Army would be called out in these 10 districts to help the civil administration maintain peace, chief secretary Kamran Rasool informed the meeting.

Home secretary Hasan Waseem Afzal and IGP Ziaul Hasan briefed the meeting about the contingency plan the provincial government had prepared to maintain law and order during the elections.

They said 2,078 polling stations had been declared as sensitive in category A in the first phase of polls and 2,729 in the second phase.

One wireless set and one cell phone would be provided at each polling station while DROs would remain in touch with the control room through wireless sets, they said, adding army contingents would patrol the sensitive areas.

The IGP said eight to 10 polling stations would be assigned to a mobile team to be led by a DSP or an ASP. For category A polling stations 8-10 police personnel would be deployed, six for category B, six and four for category C, he said.

The CEC did not agree with a proposal made by some DROs that army should hold flag marches in all districts of the province. He, however, authorized them to approach the provincial government in writing if they needed army contingents in their respective areas.

He directed that all presiding officers should issue signed copies of results to agents of contestants at their respective polling stations. The communication of results should be protected while secrecy of ballot papers should also be maintained, he said.

He announced an increase in the honorarium of officials on election duty.

Commission member Justice Naseem Sikandar, Punjab election commissioner Rahim Nawaz Durrani, additional chief secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, local government secretary Najeebullah and assistant election commissioner Rana Aslam Khan were also present.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, the CEC said that members of banned outfits could not be barred from taking part in local polls at this stage.

The only legal way out to tackle the issue was challenging, in case they won, their election in the high courts or election tribunals, he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Rasool on Thursday directed all tehsil municipal officers (TMOs) to immediately remove banners of candidates contesting in local body polls and report to him in the evening.

Mr Rasool issued the direction after a meeting with chief election commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar in his office here.