Surat (Gujarat): Due to a lack of knowledge of the Gujarati language, as many as 521 government officers and employees have applied for relief from the duty of Presiding Officer, sources said.
A total of 3,143 employees of Surat district had applied for exemption from duty in the Lok Sabha elections. 930 applications have been rejected by the District Election Officer, sources said.
To conduct free and fair Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission assigns different responsibilities to government officials and employees. In Surat district, orders were issued to 27,336 such officers and employees to perform election duty.
Sources said 3,143 officers and employees had applied to the District Election Officer for exemption from this duty. The officers had applied for exemption from duty citing various reasons.
Deputy District Election Officer RC Patel said 3143 officers and employees had applied for exemption from duty citing various reasons including the illness of their parents or family members. "Out of 3143 applications, we have accepted 1692 applications, while 930 applications have been rejected due to lack of valid reasons," Patel said.
RC Patel said that there are about 521 officers and employees who come under the Centre and do not know the Gujarati language. "The entire election process is mostly conducted in the Gujarati language. All these employees have agreed to do other work during the elections, but they will be freed from the duty of Presiding Officer and given other election-related work. There are some officers who are participating in the election process for the first time and do not know Gujarati language, hence they have agreed to perform other duties and have applied not to become Presiding Officers. We have approved all 521 such applications," Patel added.
The Presiding Officer has an important role on the day of voting. The chief officer present at the polling station is called Presiding Officer. The presiding officer is responsible for sending all types of materials related to voting and delivering them to the cold storage room.
