Pune: Vaibhav Jadhav, a zilla parishad school teacher from Satara, will travel 180km from Maan taluka to Patan for his election duty. Several teachers from Pune, Nashik, Jalgaon, Satara and Kolhapur, will also commute between 150 and 200km on Tuesday morning to their assigned polling booths, stay on the schools' premises and be ready for polling on Wednesday. When polling is over, they will need another six hours to hand over the EVMs and voting reports to the authorities.
Then, travelling home after midnight, without enough food, accommodation, or travel arrangements is risky. Jadhav said, "It takes 40 to 45 hours from picking up the election material and EVMs to completing the election process in urban areas. In rural areas, it takes longer.
Due to the high risk and responsibility involved, poll workers experience mental stress. We want the Election Commission of India to provide basic amenities for staff stationed at polling centres and an increase in their allowances." Election officials said that the appointment of duties was the responsibility of the district collector and was usually based on available resources.
The polling staff must be present at the respective election office at 8am on Nov 19 to pick up election material and EVMs and leave for the designated polling centre to set up the polling station and make other arrangements. They must be present for election duties at 5am on Nov 20. Once voting is completed, they have to stay on until the morning of Nov 21 to.
