Jaipur: Rajasthan University and College Teachers’ Association (RUCTA) has urged the State Election Commission (SEC) to assign govt college teachers election duties in accordance with their designation, pay scale and status.RUCTA state general secretary Baney Singh said appointing college professors as returning officers (ROs) and polling officers (PO-1) went against Election Commission guidelines. The association has demanded that they instead be appointed zonal or sector magistrates.Singh said the issue had arisen in only three districts — Sawai Madhopur, Sirohi and Dungarpur — where officials cited a staff shortage to justify the appointments.“Lower-level officials harass us during election duties. We want duties to be assigned according to our pay scale, status, and dignity,” he said.SEC secretary Rajesh Verma said, “Returning officers were gazetted officers and personnel of different levels could be appointed to the posts.” He added that assignments depended on requirements, as there were few posts of divisional and sector magistrates.Churu teachers fear missing vote due to poll dutyJaipur: Govt teachers and other employees in Churu fear missing the panchayat elections after being assigned poll duties on voting day in their home constituencies.Teachers’ representative Ramanand Pareek urged the administration to prepare duty rosters based on employees’ wards and polling stations to ensure they can vote.“No employee should be deprived of their right to vote because of election duty. The administration has all the necessary data to prepare the roster accordingly,” he said.SEC secretary Rajesh Verma said personnel must perform assigned duties, with no provision for postal ballots in sarpanch elections.
