Teacher on wheelchair assigned poll duty

Teacher on wheelchair assigned poll duty


To work as a Presiding Officer in the coming panchayat elections is a huge responsibility, especially when you are a wheel-chaired teacher.
Meet Pramod Kumar Jena of the Ajipur Primary School, a polio patient, who has just learnt the art of juggling Classes 1 to V to teach the students as the authorities appointed him as a teacher two years back.
Today, Jena is a worried man as the authorities have entrusted him with poll duty as a Presiding Officer at Korei on February 17. "As a physically-challenged person, it is not possible on my part to work as a Presiding Officer at Korei, 30 km from my village.
On Saturday, he filed an application before the BDO of Binjharpur requesting him not to entrust him with the duty, but the BDO refused to listen to him. "The BDO told me flatly that the authorities will take action against me if I don’t join the poll duty," rued Jena.
BDO Banamali Tarei, when contacted, said, "We will arrange his (Jena’s) transport to Korei."
According to human right activist and president of social organisation Pragati, Prafulla Naik, the Delhi High Court last year had directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Election Commission of India not to insist on assigning election duties to women teachers and the disabled persons.
A Division Bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S Muralidhar passed the order on a plea by a group of women and handicapped teachers seeking exemption from election duties. The MCD Primary School Teachers’ Association had moved a public interest petition highlighting the hardships faced by the teachers as they were allegedly forced to do election duties after school hours. As per the order of the Delhi High Court, the authorities have no power to entrust election works to disabled persons.

Source: Daily Pioneer.