Lucknow, Apr 30 (IANS): The State Election Commission (SEC) has announced that action would be initiated under the Calamity Management Act, 2005, against anyone found violating the Covid safety norms during counting of votes for panchayat elections on May 2.

The SEC also announced a complete ban on victory processions by the candidates and their supporters. It also made it mandatory for the candidates to submit the list of counting agents to the district electoral officers by Friday evening.

State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar has issued a slew of directives that include negative RT-PCR or rapid antigen test report - conducted 48 hours before the counting - by the candidates or their representatives attending the counting.

The announcement came two days after the Allahabad High Court pulled up the poll panel over deaths of 135 teachers who were deployed on poll duty during the four-phase panchayat election.

The commission said that the district administration will ensure no crowding takes place at the place of counting.

It also banned entry of persons not wearing masks and having symptoms like fever, cold and cough at the place of counting of votes.

Kumar said that all persons will be subjected to thermal scanning and proper sanitization before being allowed entry at the counting hall.

A medical help desk will be set up in all counting centres to deal with emergencies, if any.