Members of different teachers' and doctors' associations are sulking over the deployment of their members on election duty although it is against the rules.

Some government employees are at present being trained on how to handle electronic voting machines (EVMs) and perform other poll-related duties. They would be assigned duties only after the training is complete. Apart from 75,000 contract teachers and around 50,000 regular teachers, around 400 doctors from primary health centres and sadar hospitals are scheduled to undergo poll training.

Keshav Kumar, the general secretary of Bihar Panchayat Nagar Prarambhik Shikshak Sangh (a contract teachers' association), said: "A Supreme Court ruling in 2007 states that government schoolteachers cannot be asked to skip classes and undertake non-academic activities like election duty and census work. The order further stated that only the non-teaching school staff could be deployed for such duties. Teachers have been deputed for poll duty despite this."

Keshav said if teachers would be engaged in poll related work, schools would not be able to deliver quality education because of the existing scarcity of teachers.

"In the past, teachers were assigned the duties of booth level officers. They did not get a single farthing for the job. They were not only supposed to spread awareness about voting prior to the elections, but were engaged in the booths during polls. We don't want this to happen again. Teachers should not be assigned poll duties."

Kedar Pandey, the secretary of Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh (a regular teachers' association), also said his association would register a complaint with the election commission if teachers were assigned election duty this time. "The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) 2009 says teachers could be deployed for non-educational duties only if the pupil-teacher ratio in schools is maintained at 30:1 (one teacher for every 30 students). The ratio in state government schools is 56:1, at present."

Bihar Health Services Association general secretary Ranjit Kumar said: "The deputy chief electoral officer Bharat Lal Baitha had sent a letter to various district magistrates on September 17, in which it had charted a list of professions, practitioners of which were to be exempted from poll duty according to the Election Commission of India's decision in 2008. The list figures medical practitioners and despite this, doctors are being trained for election duties. Who would attend to the victims if doctors were absent at the hospitals?"

Members of bank associations said bank services would suffer if employees were assigned poll duties. "Presently, 90 per cent bank employees of the state (around 20,000) have received a letter regarding their training for poll duties. If bank employees are assigned duties, banking services would be hit, especially in rural branches," said J.P. Dixit, the general secretary of Bank Employees Federation, Bihar.

Additional chief electoral officer R. Laxmanan, however, told The Telegraph "I don't think there is any rule in the Right to Information Act, which prevents teachers from engaging in polling duties. There must have been some confusion about involving doctors because it is against the rules."