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Junior clerks allegedly appointed as presiding officers; employee unions flag violation of ECI rules
The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) officers and non-teaching employees’ action committee has objected to such appointments and submitted a representation to the district election officer.
PUNE: Ahead of the upcoming municipal elections, junior clerks and junior assistants have allegedly being appointed as presiding officers in violation of the Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines. Employee unions have raised objections and warned that such appointments could disrupt administrative discipline and lead to complications on polling day.
According to the ECI’s ‘handbook for returning officers 2023’, the presiding officer of a polling station is legally and administratively responsible for the conduct of voting. The handbook states that the presiding officer must be from a higher pay scale than other polling personnel, and should preferably be a gazetted officer. In the absence of a gazetted officer, the responsibility may be entrusted to an employee holding a supervisory post. In Pune, however, several non-gazetted employees from junior cadres have allegedly been appointed as presiding officers even as senior officers have been appointed as polling officers under their supervision, union members allege.
The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) officers and non-teaching employees’ action committee has objected to such appointments and submitted a representation to the district election officer.
Satish Waghmare, president, SPPU employees’ union, said, “Junior assistants and clerks working in the ₹2,400 grade pay at the varsity have received orders appointing them as presiding officers for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections. After these orders were issued, we submitted a representation to the PMC election authorities and also met them personally. However, no action has been taken so far to revise or withdraw these presiding officer orders.”
Among the allegations, employee representatives have claimed that such appointments were generated through software without proper scrutiny of designation, supervisory status or eligibility as mandated by ECI norms.
Vijay Naykal, PMC assistant returning officer (ARO), said, “The junior clerks got promotions, so their pay scale has increased. They told us that they will take the promotion but will not carry out the duty, which is not possible. We are looking for alternative ways. If a junior clerk is not capable of doing that work, we will change the role. Very soon, we are going to release a new order regarding this.”
