CRPF Jawan Carries Sick Poll Official on Shoulders for 3 KM, Ensures Timely Medical Aid

The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections are in full swing, and the fourth phase of polling concluded on 29th April.

While metropolitan cities gear up for the long queues of voters, the Election Commission has deployed special forces that ensure that every voter—no matter where they live—
gets the opportunity to exercise their right and duty.

Leh and Uttarkashi, two districts that extend the challenges of harsh weather conditions and topography, are great examples of how the state and district administration are working with the election commission to ensure that no matter how difficult it is, polling stations will be built and manned for the citizens to cast their votes.

You can read in detail how electoral processes are carried out in such remote and challenging areas, here.

However, even when the polling booths and stations are set up, the work is merely half done.

Election officers have a hectic schedule ahead of them, and sometimes, their health cannot keep up with the challenges.

Something similar happened in the Gumla district of Jharkhand recently.

Around 4 pm, Leonard Lakda, an election official posted in the Sarango village of Jharkhand, fell unconscious and began bleeding from his nose and mouth.

Gumla is a Naxal-affected area, and for this reason, armed commandos of the C/226 battalion of CRPF on Monday were posted to guard the polling booth during the elections.

As soon as Lakda collapsed, constable Anil Sharma jumped into action. After administering first aid, he took him on his shoulders and ran for 3 km to a nearby health centre.

The official Twitter account of the CRPF posted a congratulatory note saying, “MAKING THE COUNTRY PROUD: When a polling staff member suddenly collapsed, followed by nose bleeding at a polling booth in Dist Gumla, Jharkhand, CT Anil Sharma of #226Bn CRPF carried him on his shoulders and ran for 3Km to reach a hospital where the polling staff was saved.”

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Whether on duty or off duty, officials of the police force and defence are often seen saving the day with their presence of mind.

For instance, Saravana Vivek M, an IPS officer, saved a man who was critically injured in an accident in Odisha earlier this month. Similarly, when Lieutenant Rahul Dalal of the Indian Navy saw a man drowning off a Kerala shore, he too jumped into the waves, swam across and rescued him.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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