Journalism of Courage
Pregnant women,physically challenged staff to be kept out this time: Chief Electoral Officer
Women employees of the state government serving in Pune-who were assigned election duty in other areas during the Lok Sabha polls and who had approached the district collector saying they had not been given even basic facilities-have been assured that during the Assembly polls,there will be no repeat of the problems they had faced during the recent polls.
Thousands of women across the state,particularly those working in the city,who were given election duty had complained of shortage of toilets,drinking water,adequate security and transportation facilities.
District Collector Chandrakant Dalvi has forwarded their letter to the chief electoral officer seeking urgent action. Dalvi said things were beyond the control of the district administration during the Lok Sabha polls. Then,we could not challenge the reshuffling of personnel. This time,we have requested the chief electoral officer to allow us to keep out women and physically challenged employees from duty outside their areas of posting, he said.
Dalvi said in his covering letter that the women had faced many problems in 21 Assembly constituencies across Pune district during the Lok Sabha elections. He sought to ensure that no such inconvenience is caused during the Assembly elections.
Instructions about exempting physically challenged and pregnant women have already been sent out. But everybody on election duty will have to face hardships. All we can try is minimise it, Debashish Chakraborty,chief electoral officer,Maharashtra,told Newsline.
The city has over 17,000 women working for the state government who were posted outside during the Lok Sabha polls. The postings,done for the first time this year,were a result of the decision taken by the election commission. Election duty is compulsory for government employees and involves a three-day stay in case of outstation areas. In remote villages,70-80 km from the city,arrangements for their stay are made in schools where basic amenities are usually limited.
We were six women and nine men posted at Ambegaon,80 km from Pune. While the male employees somehow managed without toilets,we had to beg local villagers to allow us to use their bathrooms and toilets. We spent sleepless nights due to mosquitoes. On voting day,we were not given any food till 4 pm. We would appreciate it if the authorities provide us with food packets and water bottles, said Lata Kute,an education department employee.
Security was another area they were concerned about. By the time voting machines are sealed,it is late in the night. Transport facilities provided to them dropped employees only at specific spots like Swargate,Agriculture College and many women had to wait till the morning to get buses to head home. We have requested the authorities to allow women to return home immediately after voting is over, said Shubhangi Pardeshi,vice president,Government Servants of Maharashtra Cooperative Credit Society.
Anil Waghmare,president,State Government Education Department Employees Federation said that while on outstation duty,it is the responsibility of the election commission to provide the employees with basic facilities.
This is all the more necessary in case of women as they need toilets,security and safe transportation. We do not want a repeat of what was witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections, he said.
