New Delhi, April 5 (IANS). Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala John Brittas has requested Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia to give paid leave to postal employees on April 9, the day of assembly elections.
In a letter to the Union Minister, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP has sought immediate intervention to enable postal employees to exercise their franchise.
In their letter, Brittas have expressed concern over the instructions issued by the Kerala Postal Circle, wherein the entire category of postal employees have been treated as Absentee Voters in Essential Services (AVE) and they have been directed to opt for postal ballot within a very limited time frame.
He said the March 19 circular directed Form 12D to be collected by March 20 and deposited in the respective collectorates by March 22, both of which were holidays, creating difficulty in compliance and raising apprehensions over the arbitrary nature of the instructions.
Brittas stressed that under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, it is mandatory to provide paid leave to employees on polling day so that they can exercise their franchise.
He said that even where some services are considered essential, as per long-standing administrative practice only the minimum essential functions are carried out on the polling day, and employees are given the opportunity to vote in person.
The CPI-M MP also said that in many other states including Assam where elections are being held, postal employees are being given leave on the day of polling as per statutory provisions.
He said that in the previous assembly elections in Kerala, postal establishments had observed the holiday on the polling day except for some essential arrangements.
He said the current divergence raises concerns about inconsistency in the application of the law and unnecessary violations of workers’ democratic rights.
Stating that the right to vote is the basic foundation of India’s democratic structure, Brittas urged the Union Minister to immediately investigate the matter and issue appropriate directions to ensure that postal employees in Kerala are given statutory paid leave on the day of polling, subject only to those limited essential arrangements that are absolutely unavoidable.
–IANS
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