Even after Election Panel had made it clear that companies in the information technology sector are not exempted and will have to declare a paid holiday on the day of polling, it is observed that many IT companies have not yet announced a paid Holiday on April 30. As per the provisions of Section 135 B (i) of the Representation of People (RP) Act, every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking or any other establishment and entitled to vote, shall be granted a holiday on April 30, the day of Poll in Telangana.
“Presently there are around 1200 IT companies in Hyderabad and as per our sources, only less than 30 per cent IT companies have officially announced a paid holiday on April 30. Voting is the most precious right of every citizen, and we have a moral obligation to ensure the integrity of our voting process. As per the information received by us, some companies are granting two hour permission for its employees to cast their votes. Practically this may be very absurd as majority of the IT employees must travel to remote places to cast their votes. Considering the above cases, we request all the IT companies to announce a paid holiday for the employees to cast their Votes, as we believe every Vote counts and if we do not vote we do not get the government we deserve”, said Sundeep Kumar Makthala, Founder & President at TITA.(NSS)