Rajiv Arun Ekka: Tough taskmaster

Ranchi, Feb 23: Frivolous excuses made by unwilling government and public sector employees to evade poll work may not work during the Lok Sabha election, at least in Ranchi.

Deputy commissioner Rajiv Arun Ekka today warned that all employees who cite illness as an excuse to evade election work would be put through a medical test after the poll is over.

Ekka has also asked department heads to prepare a list of employees and officers who would be send for 2009 Lok Sabha election duty. He has also asked department bosses to submit the list by February 24.

In a strongly worded circular Ekka has stated that if an excuse is found to be false, action would be taken against the employee, as well the department head, who recommended the name to the deputy commissioner’s office in the first place.

“Legal action would be initiated against employees and officers as well as the department heads if the excuse of illness is found to be false,” Ekka has said in the circular.

Ekka said that department chiefs often send in illness reports to get their staff excused from election duty.

He added that in the previous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, various department chiefs did sign on the excuse slip and false reports of illness, as election duty in a Naxalite hub is the least sought after government duty.

Taken aside, even government officers admit that there is some amount of truth in the DC’s statement and that illness is often the best excuse for an unwilling staff to evade poll work.

“Employees who are in good terms with their bosses, ask their bosses to report them as ill to the DC’s office. The new circular should solve this problem,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

“Previously the office received several such applications stating some form of illness or the other. If all state employees are so grievously ill, then it’s a wonder that any work gets done in Jharkhand,” Ekka argued.

One case in point was the Tamar by-poll. Several applications citing different sorts of illnesses arrived in the DC’s office from unwilling employees before the Tamar Assembly elections.

As the district office did not have the time before the election to conduct medical tests, the applications and excuses were bypassed. However, that would not happen any more. This time, such application would be counter-checked, albeit after the elections are over.