Mumbai: Will Teachers Be Exempted From Election Duties This Year?

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) instructed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner to try and avoid assigning election duties to teachers in the city and suburban areas. This exemption also includes Booth Level Officer (BLO) roles. He asked to refrain from assigning duties to particularly those involved in conducting class 10 and 12 examinations, on February 23.

CEO Shrikant Deshpande addressed the authorities in a formal letter, emphasising the necessity to select alternate people for election-related responsibilities rather than instructors. The instruction also requested authorities to investigate the potential of using retired government employees for BLO activities and to guarantee that educational personnel engaging in election duties are not burdened with academic commitments on the same day.

Annual examinations may be disrupted if teachers from aided and government schools get assigned electoral obligations. This concern was expressed by different teacher unions and legislative representatives, including a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) representing teachers, who urged for the removal of teachers from electoral duties to ensure the smooth conduct of exams.

Furthermore, the directive emphasised the significance of identifying other staff categories for election tasks and requested the commissioner and collectors to convene an urgent joint conference to discuss these choices.

Meanwhile, MLA Satyajit Tambe intensified the situation, calling for statewide actions in response to the exclusion of teachers from Mumbai and its outskirts from electoral duties. Tambe encouraged the State Electoral Commission to extend the directive throughout the state, citing the negative impact on student education caused by teachers’ participation in electoral activities.