Twenty-six teachers in Maharashtra booked for refusing election work; EC says no poll duty for SSC, HSC teachers in state

At least 26 teachers from Palghar district in Maharashtra have been booked for allegedly refusing to do election-related duty, police said on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_4110179” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The teachers from a school in Nallasopara area were in 2018 appointed as booth-level officers to update the voters’ list and undertake other poll-related works, Palghar police spokesperson Hemant Kumar Katkar said. They were supposed to carry out the works between June 2018 and February this year, he said. However, since the 26 teachers did not turn up for the work, an electoral registration officer-in-charge of the area complained to police, he said. Based on the complaint, the teachers were on Tuesday booked under Section 32(1) (breach of official duty in connection with preparation of electoral rolls) of the Representation of People Act, Katkar said. Meanwhile, on Wednesday itself Election Commission Assistant Chief Electoral Officer AN Walvi issued a circular excluding teachers of class 10 (SSC) and class 12 (HSC), whose number is estimated to be over 50,000, from poll duties. Over 50,000 teachers of Class 10 and Class 12 in Maharashtra will no longer be enrolled for Lok Sabha election duties, as per the circular. The exams are conducted by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. Lok Sabha elections for all 48 seats will be held in four phases in Maharashtra between 11 April and 29 April. Flagging the issue before state Chief Electoral Officer, Shikshak Bharati, an organisation of primary and secondary teachers, had feared delay in declaration of results, in case the teachers are drafted in for poll duty. After holding talks with various departments, the electoral office decided to exclude these teachers from election duties. Teachers of other classes will, however, are not excluded from this task. Election duties for teachers typically include undergoing training for the process, working at booths on days of voting and counting, collecting poll material etc. Under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, teachers are allowed three assignments Census, disasters and elections. However, teachers’ groups say that poll duties result in wasting of teaching time, as they are also called for training a few days ahead of the elections. With inputs from PTI