Zila parishad polls: As teachers get posted to far-flung stations, admn asks for cooperation

The district administration has made it clear that since the zila parishad elections are a state issue, the guidelines of the Election Commission of India will not be applicable here. Moreover, the issue of putting women teachers on duty in far-flung areas has been called a no issue and the administration is now asking for cooperation from all government employees for the smooth conduct of these polls.

Talking to The Tribune, Amarjit Singh Bains, ADC and the nodal officer, said that the women would have to go to the polling stations just for a day.

“The state guidelines mention that a person cannot be put on duty in their own block, so they will have to be sent to other blocks. And as far as the safety of women is concerned, cops will be present in the buses being arranged for the commute. Instead of complaining over minor issues, the government employees must support towards holding smooth elections,” Bains said.

It may be mentioned here that the teachers unions are alleging that female teachers are being put on duty in areas which are 80-90 km away from their stations. And some teachers maintain that they are also being called for election rehearsals, forcing them to leave behind their small children. Now, for nuclear families, this spells a difficult situation.

Devinder Singh Sidhu, pesident, Democratic Teachers Federation, here said that there was panic among teachers and a lot of chatter was going on in the Whatsapp groups because any refusal by the teachers to attend the election duties would invite show cause notices and punitive action.