MP Professors protest, Sweeper made presiding officer

The situation of mismanagement in the election of government employees remains uncertain. On Thursday, a case was brought in, where the duty of the peon was placed in the form of Presiding Officers and that some teachers have been told to report to them.

Professors told TOI that they are worried about working under such “bizarre situations”. The president of MP College Professors’ Association, Prof. Kailash Tyagi said, “It is embarrassing that Class IV employees have been appointed as presiding officers while senior professors are asked to work under them”.

TOI has a copy of poll duty letter sent to a govt. college in Bhopal, according to which a visually challenged professor has been appointed a presiding officer. He told TOI that he has no idea how he was expected to carry out such a job.

An EC official said employees below Class III can’t be appointed as a presiding officer. “Presiding officers and polling officers are classified according to pay scale, post, and rank. The rulebook says that gazette officials should be deployed as presiding officers. If that’s not possible, only officials working in a supervisory capacity can be deployed as presiding officers. Also, the presiding officer should be of a higher scale or grade than the polling officers,” he said.

The MP College Professors’ Association had requested collectors and state election commission to change the listings. In his letter, Tyagi mentioned that in 2013 Jabalpur HC said that the senior officers must not be asked to work under juniors.

“Even a sweeper… has been made a presiding officer. Now, think about the professor who has to work under him,” he added.