Will chowkidars of Mangaluru get a chance to vote?

MANGALURU: This Lok Sabha election campaign, at least for the time being, is revolving around the the term popularised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—‘chowkidar’. While Modi on Sunday invited doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, IT professionals and bankers to join the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign, the opposition, including Congress party president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have been taking jibes at the BJP’s chowkidar campaign.
Chowkidars have indeed become the talk of the nation, but unfortunately, many of them (private security guards) will not be able to cast their votes in Mangaluru. The city has more than 50 security agencies, and a majority of the security guards are from north India. For security agencies, election time would mean a staff crisis, as many of the security guards have requested for leave to vote. However, security guards maintain that it is not possible to go back home, only to cast their vote, especially if they have just returned from a holiday.

Manoj and his cousin Amit from Sarai in Kanpur, working for Popular Security, said, “We will not be able to go back home to vote. I have just returned from a holiday. It has been five years since I started working in Mangaluru. We are very proud that ‘chowkidars’ are part of an election campaign. Our profession has got a new recognition,” he said.

Gulab, a security guard from Rajouri in Jammu, said he would not be able to go back home for voting. Dhirendra from Hubballi, who has been living in Mangaluru for the last eight years, is now a registered voter in Mangaluru. However, Umesh a local, said, “Getting leave is a big issue. Even for locals, we have to make adjustments among ourselves and take time off to vote.”

Anil Poojary, proprietor, Ideal Secutity Agency, that has over 400 staff, said, “We do face staff shortage during elections. We compensate by appointing temporary staff, mostly locals. About 90 per cent of our staff are north Indians. Our employees are mostly from Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Jammu and other places in the north. They go on 10-15 days leave. Many of them have requested for leave.”

An official from another security agency maintained that they ask their staff to apply for leave in writing, if they want to go home and vote.

Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat CEO Selvamani R said most of the private security guards have voter IDs from their home states. “Private security guards do not have the option to go in for a postal vote. They have to go back home and vote. If they are staying in Dakshina Kannada for more than six months, they can delete their name from the voter lists in their home states, and enrol here. The work of private security guards is considered a private job. If required, awareness will be conducted under the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation programme (SVEEP) for them on poll related issues,” she said.