So the Election Commission (EC) just handed women a ‘compliment‘ and we’re not sure how we feel about this one. Do we laugh, cry or shrug it away thanks to its sheer absurdness?
The EC decided to send an all-woman team of observers to Goa which goes to polls on 4th February. Why? Because as all dudebro movies have shown us, sun, sand, sea and Smirnoff don’t mix well with men; they get distracted from the job at hand. Poor things.
“In the past there were many complaints against male poll observers of frequenting tourist hot spots far away from their places of duty. Taking cognizance of such transgressions, the EC decided to send only women to Goa this time,” the Hindustan Times report quotes an anonymous source.
Should we be fed up with the government to legitimise this “kya kare control nahi hota” line for the male employees? Or because they are legitimising the-whole-state-of-Goa-is-a-playground-for-India attitude. What to say to the EC that assumes all women employees will be good little girls carrying their mobile lakshman rekhas to Goa and back?
Think we’re seeing the glass as half full? The same report also points out that the EC, in its wisdom, has chosen very few women for the other states going to the polls this season. And zero women for the Manipur elections, since it’s too ‘unsafe’ there.
Net-net, it looks like 20 IAS, eight revenue services and four IPS officers will be heading to Goa for election duty in the coming weeks. Now, there’s a web-series about an all-women road-trip we’d like to see.
PS. If anyone says, what happens in Goa stays in Goa, we’re going to be very fed up.