Year after panchayat poll duty, employees yet to receive dues

Year after panchayat poll duty, employees yet to receive dues 

Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, March 10
A year after the panchayat elections, the state government employees deployed during the electoral process are yet to receive various dues, including tour and dearness allowance (TA/DA).

There has been no word on the pending payments even as the employees have been told to prepare for the General Election.

In a letter sent on May 8 last year (The Tribune has a copy), the Under Secretary, Elections, had directed all district election officers that the staff deployed on election duty be given the TA/DA by their respective departments.

On being contacted, a few teachers, who have to be paid Rs 1,500 each per day, said the order was yet to be implemented.

Boota Singh, a teacher, said, “The government has not released anything for availing our services during the zila parishad, panchayat samiti and gram panchayat elections.” In Muktsar district alone, around 3,200 teachers are awaiting dues.

Kulwinder Singh, Government Teachers’ Union state vice-president, said, “In the assembly and parliamentary elections, the election staff gets TA/DA and honorarium on the day of polling itself from the Election Commission of India. But the dues for panchayat elections have to be cleared by the State Election Commission.”

District Education Officer Devinder Kumar Rajoria said, “We neither received any notification directing us to pay TA/DA to teachers nor any budget has been earmarked for the purpose. It is up to the election authorities to clear the payment.”