TAMIL NADU

Exempt PwDs, pregnant women from polling station duties, demands forum

Tamil Nadu Elementary School Teachers’ Federation submitted a petition to the Madurai District Election Officer and Collector K. J. Praveen Kumar here on Wednesday requesting exemption from polling officer duties for specific categories of government employees and teachers as recommended by the Elec...

By The Hindu

• March 18, 2026 at 2:53 PM

Exempt PwDs, pregnant women from polling station duties, demands forum Photo: The Hindu

Tamil Nadu Elementary School Teachers’ Federation submitted a petition to the Madurai District Election Officer and Collector K.

Praveen Kumar here on Wednesday requesting exemption from polling officer duties for specific categories of government employees and teachers as recommended by the Election Commission of India.

The demands further included permitting female teachers to serve within their respective Assembly Constituencies and providing essential basic amenities, including transportation, for polling personnel.

Srinivasan, District Secretary, Tamil Nadu Elementary School Teachers’ Federation, said, as the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election is scheduled to take place in a single phase on April 23, to issue appointment orders for polling station duties, personal profile forms have been collected from all teachers and government employees based on the payroll system.

He added that the election duty be exempted for people as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and Election Commission guidelines.

As per that, he said, persons with disabilities with over 40% physical impairment, individuals with visual impairments or low vision, those with only six months of service remaining before retirement, pregnant women and nursing mothers with infants under one year of age, employees who have undergone heart or kidney transplants and those suffering from severe cancer or undergoing kidney dialysis should exempted.

In addition, Mr.

Srinivasan, said, they requested that female teachers assigned to election duty be stationed as polling officers within the same Assembly Constituency where they were already working.

“Proper arrangements must be made for transportation to and from polling stations, along with the provision of food and other essential basic facilities,” he added.

Necessary measures should be taken to ensure that all teachers and government employees engaged in election work receive their postal ballots without fail, he stated.