Kolkata, April 11 The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday drew the attention of the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged appointment of contractual staff as sector officers/assistants in Kasba Assembly Constituency in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal ahead of the crucial two-phase Assembly elections in the state next month.
Kasba is going for polls in the second phase on April 29.
In a statement posted on the wall of his official social media handle on Saturday morning, the LoP said that the appointment of contractual staff for a crucial poll-related assignment was nothing but a blatant and calculated attempt by the district administration of South 24 Parganas to subvert the democratic process in the Kasba Assembly Constituency.
He alleged that the order for this appointment of contractual staff as sector officers/assistants for Kasba, issued by the Returning Officer for the Assembly constituency, Purnima Dey, who is a West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) cadre officer, was a deep-rooted conspiracy to utilise “partisan contractual staff" in roles traditionally and legally reserved for permanent government employees.
The LoP had also attached the order appointing such contractual staff for electoral assignments.
“The individuals marked in the attached order (Sector Assistants) are reportedly contractual employees of the ‘ISGPP Cell’ under the panchayat and rural development department, currently attached to the South 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad. The Election Commission’s own guidelines strictly prohibit the deployment of contractual staff for such sensitive polling duties, as they lack the accountability and security of permanent service,” he added.
He also accused the Returning Officer of Kasba of using fabricated designations like "sector assistant" and "assistant sector officer", which do not exist in the standard election hierarchy of the ECI.
According to him, from this, it was evident that these titles have been manufactured to bypass scrutiny and deploy contractual workers.
“In previous orders, these very individuals were listed as 'sector officers. ' After objections were likely raised, the RO has craftily changed their designation to 'sector assistant' while keeping them in the same roles to facilitate the ruling party’s interests on the ground,” he alleged.
Adhikari also said that this was a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and a direct threat to the conduct of free and fair polls.
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Finally, he urged the ECI to take action in the matter and remove those contractual staff from electoral duties.
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