Teachers of unaided schools for poll duty only if required

The Election Commission in Thane district recently assured teachers from unaided schools that they will deploy them for election duty “only if it is absolutely necessary”.

The Election Commission in Thane district recently assured teachers from unaided schools that they will deploy them for election duty “only if it is absolutely necessary”. This move comes after teachers from unaided school asked to be exempted from election-related work owing to mounting responsibilities during exams even as the Bombay high court had recently ruled that staff from unaided education institutes can be appointed for poll duty.

Thane had a shortage of 10,000 people for election duty which was filled by taking additional help from Mumbai and suburbs. Shivaji Patil, deputy collector, Thane district, said, “We will approach teachers from unaided school only if it is absolutely necessary. Even as we had sent letters to the management of unaided schools and colleges seeking additional help, we have not yet roped in any of them.”

“Only people from Mumbai were given training on Sunday,” added Patil.

After the Lok Sabha election in May, staff and teachers from unaided schools across Thane district had held a meeting and sent a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, asking to be exempted from election duty. “We have additional responsibilities in school especially during exams. It becomes difficult to manage the election duty. Also, as the Thane district is vast, we are posted at far-off locations, making it difficult for us to manage. Therefore, we hoped we would be exempted,” said Ramkanth Patil, president, Unaided Schools Forum, Thane.