Punjab: Teachers oppose poll duty to make calls to voters to know their vaccination status

They have also condemned the statement of Ludhiana deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma who said that those government employees who are seeking exemption from poll duties citing sickness should take pre-mature retirement from their jobs. Sharma added that women employees who are seeking exemption saying have to take care of their in-laws should also retire.

Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), Punjab, said that Ludhiana district administration has ordered the teachers to call voters and record the status of their second dose of anti-Covid vaccine. “If the voter says he/she is not vaccinated, we have to ask them the reason for it. Each teacher has been assigned to make hundreds of such calls in a day,” said Gurpreet Singh, press secretary, DTF. “We have even received messages from senior officials saying that action will be taken against those teachers under RP Act who refuse to make such calls,” he added. “Teachers are not working in any call center or as data entry operators. Situation of forced vaccinations is being created to meet the hidden commercial and political goals by giving teachers the task of collecting vaccine data. Second, it is highly likely that after receiving such calls, voters may assume that vaccination was a prerequisite for exercising the right to vote. Thus, this activity of the district administration is not only objectionable but also detrimental to democracy. A joint front of teachers’ unions will stage a protest on February 13. We will also send a complaint to the Election Commission of India regarding the arbitrariness of the district administration in this regard,” read the statement.

DTF Jagraon president Davinder Singh Sidhu said that EC has issued instructions to DC Ludhiana to allocate the duties of teachers and staff in their neighboring constituencies. “All those instructions have been ignored and these duties have once again been shifted to distant stations,” he said.

NSQF Vocational Teachers Union Punjab’s Finance Secretary Amandeep Singh Bhatti said that beside recommending the retrenchment of employees DC Ludhiana should dare to recommend the regularisation of those temporary and outsourced employees and teachers who have been posted on election duties ignoring the election code of conduct.