By SK.Vyas
Jalandhar, March 13, 2019:In order to ensure that only people with genuine Health problem were exempted from poll duty, the Deputy Commissioner Jalandhar Varinder Kumar Sharma today asked the Health Department to constitute a Medical board to scrutinize applications for exemption from duty on health ground.
Issuing the orders, the Deputy Commissioner said that the purpose was to ensure that people with actual health problem do not face any inconvenience. On the other hand, he said that those people who do not have any such problem but were making lame excuses to avoid poll duties must not be allowed to take the law for granted. Sharma said that all the applications received for exemption of duty on medical grounds would be referred to the board, which would scrutinize it and give recommendations for exemption.
The Deputy Commissioner said that in case anyone was found trying to mislead the government or administration to avoid election duty then stern action would be taken against them as per the election laws. He said that no one would be allowed to take poll duty for granted as poll duty was most important for strengthening the democratic process at the grass-roots level. Sharma categorically said that there was zero tolerance in case any member of the poll staff tries to mislead the administration for not joining poll duty.
The Deputy Commissioner cautioned the officials that stern action would be taken against the staff who would not report on duty. He said that any sort of negligence on part of poll staff to join duty would be dealt with a heavy hand and appropriate action would be taken against the employees indulging in such malpractices. Sharma said that any sort of callousness in the deliverance of election duty was both unwarranted and undesirable. He also said that any sort reluctance on part of the employees to join this ‘national service’ could never be tolerated at any cost