Teachers unlikely to get exemption

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 18

Communication from various teachers’ unions to the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) seeking exemption from election duty, with regard to the Lok Sabha polls, is likely to be turned down as the authorities maintain that teachers are the ideal workforce for the conduct of the elections.

Talking to The Tribune, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Dr S Karuna Raju said, “The Education Department is the biggest workforce available with the election office followed by the medical, police and revenue departments. Police and health departments are emergency departments so are minimally deployed. Election process involves direct interaction with society and teachers are best suited to handle the job.”

Teachers, on the other hand, claim they are exploited in the name of election duty.

However, the CEO said, “We have got representations from various teachers’ unions seeking exemption from election duty through offices of the Deputy Commissioner. We forward them to the Election Commission of India. The deserving cases are allowed, but there can be no general exemption for all teachers.”