Around six dozen government employees on election duty in Hoshiarpur district face FIRs for skipping the first rehearsal held recently for the Punjab assembly elections scheduled for February 20.
District election officer Apneet Riyait on Friday said that FIRs will be lodged against 71 such employees who were absent and failed to respond to show-cause notices issued subsequently. “Their department heads have been written to register FIRs against them. Similar strict action will be taken in future too, against the officers and employees who do not take the election duty seriously,” she said.
Riyait said those seeking exemption on the grounds of Covid-19 infection should submit positive reports issued only by government health centres or laboratories. She said if the report is found to be fake, the licence of the lab concerned will be cancelled, and an FIR will be lodged against the hospital or the lab concerned as well as against the erring employee.