Lok Sabha elections: Will schools, offices remain closed in Noida?

Noida: Gautam Buddh Nagar, the district under which Noida and Greater Noida fall, will elect their representative for the Lok Sabha on Friday. The district’s administration has said that schools and colleges will remain shut due to the Lok Sabha elections on Friday. However, they will operate on Saturday.
The district administration has directed factories and industries to announce a paid holiday to its workers on Friday, April 26, so that they can exercise their fundamental right of voting.
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Nearly 26.75 lakh people are eligible to vote in Gautam Buddh Nagar, which comprises the twin cities of Noida and Greater Noida.
District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma told PTI that all education institutions will remain shut on Friday but will open on Saturday. He said the decision to order paid holiday was taken because many workers complained they couldn’t vote because of their work.
“Factories and industries have also been directed to give paid holiday to workers on Friday so that they may go to cast their votes. There has been feedback that some workers are not able to go to vote because they would be stuck at work, hence this decision has been taken,” Manish Kumar Verma said.
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The district magistrate said that the Gautam Buddh Nagar’s administration has encouraged residents’ welfare authorities (RWAs) and apartment owners’ association (AOAs) to ask residents to vote in large numbers.
He said the administration will felicitate those associations where voter turnout shows an improvement.
“We will also hand out commendation certificates to RWAs and AOAs where the voter turnout shows improvement this time,” he added.
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Gautam Buddh Nagar will be one of 89 constituencies that are going to polls on April 26, under the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
The district, which houses office and residential spaces, is not known for high voter turnouts. Gautam Buddh Nagar had recorded a voter turnout of 60.47 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, 60.38 per cent in 2014 and an abysmal 48 per cent in 2009.