Madurai District Collector Inspects Educational Institutions for Alternate Counting Centre Locations

Madurai: District collector K J Praveen Kumar inspected various educational institutions to find an alternate location for setting up counting centres for Madurai district for the 2026 assembly election.In 2024, Madras high court asked the Election Commission of India not to use the Madurai Medical College as a vote counting centre from the next election as it adversely affected the regular functioning of the college and hospital for more than a month.The collector inspected the facilities at various colleges, including Agriculture College and Research Institute in Othakadai, Govt Arts and Science College in Thirumangalam, the Anna University Regional Campus in Keelakuyilkudi, Thiagarajar College of Engineering in Thiruparankundram, Madura College, and the Govt Polytechnic College in Madurai district.IPL Auction 2026IPL Auction 2026: Full list of sold and unsold players for all teamsIPL 2026 team and squad List: Updated players for all 10 Teams; who got whomCollector assessed facilities for separate counting rooms for each assembly constituency, secure storage rooms for electronic voting machines, and storage rooms for postal votes. He also checked the availability of offices for election observers and returning officers, as well as basic amenities in the educational institutions.He reviewed arrangements for the safe transportation of electronic voting machines to the counting centres after voting, ensuring that vehicles could enter and exit the centres smoothly.Madurai city commissioner of police J Loganathan, Madurai district superintendent of police B K Arvind, and several officials from the revenue and public works departments were present during the inspection.It maybe recalled that the court had passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation filed by members of the MMC Student Council seeking to restrain the commission from using the college for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.The petitioner said that since the college would be under the control of civil works authorities for more than a month, students would suffer from major disruptions to their education, with many seminars, workshops, and classes having to be cancelled, owing to the tightened security, and rooms being taken over for EVMs and vote counting centres to be set up. Additionally, since the Government Rajaji Hospital has many laboratories functioning in the connected MMC campus, there would be additional difficulty for the doctors in treating patients during that period.Get an chance to win ₹5000 Amazon Voucher by taking part in India's Biggest Habit Index! Take the survey here