Important role of
Government employees play on the day of polling…
One
of the reasons for this importance is the practice of selecting only the state
and Central Government employees for election duties.One can say that it is
impossible to hold elections without the assistance of state and Central
Government employees. So crucial is their contribution.
They
are involved in election duties for months, either directly or indirectly. The
crowning moment of these efforts are during the polling day when thousands of
government employees are appointed at all the polling booths, on an average of
at least 3 per booth.
It
might look like an easy task to handle in metropolitan cities and smaller
towns. It is not easy to carry out these tasks in remote villages or
mountainous polling booths that are almost isolated from the rest of the
civilisation. More dangerous are the constituencies and areas that have been
deemed sensitive and hypersensitive. In such areas, polling is held under tight
security. From morning until evening, these officers have to sit at the polling
stations with a heavy blanket of security. At the end of the polling, the
voting machines are taken away under high security, but the officials who had
manned the booth are left to fend for themselves and find their way back home.
According
to the Government Order, if an employee deployed for poll duties fails to turn
up on the polling day, then severe action would be taken against him/her.
In
the past, a number of requests have been made to the Government to increase the
honorarium paid to the employees on poll duties. Finally, it looks as if the
Election Commission has heard the requests. According to information available,
the Presiding Officer will be paid Rs. 1600, and the Polling Officer shall get
an honorarium of Rs. 1150. The money shall be deposited directly in their bank
accounts.
