Board to scan applications for evading election duty

KOZHIKODE: Many polling officers, from almost all districts, are trying to evade duties citing various reasons ranging from being sick to children’s exams.
As the number of applications to exempt them from duties mounted, the collectors who are also district election officers started screening the applications on medical grounds. Now, there is a medical board in every district capital that screens applications along with a medical certificate.

“There are various reasons they cite to get an exemption from poll duties,” said Kasaragod district collector E. Devadasan. “We cannot discriminate the genuine from the other. So, in case of requests citing medical reasons, we leave it to the medical board to identify the genuine ones. Some have exams, others are lactating mothers. Some others need to attend important functions. We have to consider all the requests.”

Some of the officers are heads of the institutions and they demand that the functioning of their institutions would be hit if they attend election duties.
To some others, bank tests and other examinations are falling on the election date. Some officers cite their children’s exams and some others have marriages in the family.

Lactating mothers and pregnant women who crossed seven months will naturally get an exemption. Only one among the couples has to join poll duties and the other will get an exemption.