The district election officer-cum-deputy commissioner (DEO-cum-DC) on Tuesday issued notices to 294 teachers and non-teaching staff members for missing their respective election duty rehearsals, summoning them to appear at Khalsa Girls Senior Secondary School, College road, Civil Lines, Ludhiana on Friday to explain their absence.
One such notice, sent to Harinder Singh, a Punjabi teacher at Government Middle School, Sudhar, read, “This is in reference to order of DEO, Ludhiana in which you had been drafted on election duty and you were found absent from election duty rehearsal held at Swami Ganga Giri Senior Secondary School Gondwal, Raikot”.
When asked, Harinder attributed his absence to a Covid diagnosis and his impending retirement
“I had informed the authorities about my Covid diagnosis. Also, I am retiring this month, so there was no point in attending the election rehearsal”, stated Harinder Singh.
Other cases of teachers testing positive for Covid also came to fore.
Meanwhile, notices were also sent to the teachers who assigned double duties for elections and had clashes for rehearsals.
Preeti, a clerk at the Government High School, Girls, Lakkar Bazar, who was also summoned for her absence from election rehearsal at Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, said “I had no option but to skip the rehearsal since I was busy with another election duty. I have been assigned double duty. I had received a call on the same day of the rehearsal and I had conveyed to them my helplessness.”
{{/usCountry}}Preeti, a clerk at the Government High School, Girls, Lakkar Bazar, who was also summoned for her absence from election rehearsal at Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, said “I had no option but to skip the rehearsal since I was busy with another election duty. I have been assigned double duty. I had received a call on the same day of the rehearsal and I had conveyed to them my helplessness.”
{{/usCountry}}A senior official deputed to supervise the process of allotting election duty said the teachers who fail to appear in person to offer their explanation would face disciplinary action under section 134 of Representation of the People Act, 1951, for willfully disobeying orders.