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CHEDEMA, India (AP) \u2014 The line was orderly at Government Middle School as people waited patiently to vote, even after one of the voting machines malfunctioned.<\/p>\n
The officers working at the polling station in Chedema village in India’s tiny mountain state of Nagaland on Friday had arrived the day before, all of them women on electoral duty for the first time. The four women surveyed the polling station, secured the perimeter and started on the tedious paperwork involved with India’s multiphase national election<\/a>.<\/p>\n They stopped only for an early dinner, paying heed to the voice of Eholi Jimo, 35, who cooked their meal over an open fire. \u201cPlease eat while the food is still hot,\u201d she urged.<\/p>\n The Northern Angami constituency is Nagaland’s first to be solely managed by women polling officers. It was the idea of Kumar Ramnikant, the administrative head of Kohima district, in hopes of breaking job stereotypes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf our country needs proper develop then there should be equal contribution from both halves,” Ramnikant said. “Empowerment should not only be at the top level, it should be at the bottom level also. It should be at all layers for real empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWomen are more systematic. They take every sentence seriously whereas men have an easy attitude,\u201d said Zhoto Khamo, an officer who has supervised many elections.<\/p>\n