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Over 200 government employees in Ludhiana issued notices for missing election rehearsals
Excuses galore, many government employees in Ludhiana say they will skip duty on election day as well
Over 200 government employees have been served notices for missing election rehearsals held on Tuesday.
The employees will now have to appear in person before the returning officer concerned and explain the reason for their absence.
The list of defaulting employees includes tax inspectors, linemen, Aayyaz officers, GLADA employees, child development project officer, BSNL employees, panchayat secretary, employees of Punjab Mandi Board, junior engineer at Punjab state electricity board, employees of Food Corporation of India, teachers, lecturers and non-teaching staff of the local government schools.
Amardeep Singh, a Math Master deputed at Government Senior Secondary School, Gill, claimed, “I attended the rehearsal at Khalsa Girls Senior Secondary School, College Road, Ludhiana, on February 8 but still got a notice seeking my explanation. After I informed the authorities over phone, my presence was marked.”
A few employees, despite being refused exemption from election duty, continued to remain absent from rehearsal.
A teacher, who missed the election rehearsal, said she would skip duty on the day of election as well. “I have a 10-month-old daughter and can’t leave her alone. I have conveyed the same to senior officials in the local administration but they turned down my genuine plea. I missed the rehearsals and won’t be able to come on election day either,” she said.
Rajinder Kaur, a clerk at a government school, who was summoned by her returning officer, said that since she has also been assigned Covid duty and is deputed as a data entry operator at a government senior secondary school in Ludhiana, she could not turn up for rehearsal.
Defaulting staff could face FIRs
A senior administrative officer said that in case the returning officer concerned doesn’t get satisfactory explanation from the employees who skipped their election rehearsals, the former can get a First Information Report (FIR) registered against them.
“The power and the responsibility to manage the staff is with the returning officers now. If the employee is not ready to comply with his/her duty, legal action can be taken by the ROs against them for willfully disobeying the orders,” stated a senior official.
Earlier, the district election officer-cum-deputy commissioner (DEO-cum-DC) Varinder Kumar Sharma issued notices to over 1,100 government employees, including 294 teachers and non-teaching staff, for missing their respective election duty rehearsals last month.
Also, on Sunday, the DC had written to Punjab government seeking early retirement for government employees who have sought exemption from election duty citing medical conditions and other excuses, such as caring for elderly parents or in-laws.
He claimed that the department had received over 1,000 such applications where the employees had sought exemption citing “insincere excuses”, including previously undisclosed medical conditions.
