EC 'bars' Kerala co-op sector employees from election duty; Political affiliations a plausible cause

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala cooperative sector employees have been 'barred' from election duty by the Election Commission of India (EC). 

EC has issued the list of returning officers of 140 constituencies. In this, the constituencies that earlier had cooperative sector employees in charge now have other department employees as returning officers. It is indicated that this change is due to the allegations that cooperative sector employees have strong political affiliations.

Incidents like the box containing the ballot paper of the Perinthalmanna constituency going missing and the Kerala High Court’s (HC) report in the elections where cooperative employees were in charge are said to have motivated this EC action. 

When a case was lodged regarding the conduct of elections in the Perinthalmanna constituency, the ballot paper box was found to be missing. This was later recovered from the office of the cooperative sector joint registrar’s office. Similarly, in the case of cooperative society elections in Pathanamthitta, the report submitted by an observer appointed by the HC states that the cooperative sector returning officer refused to check the ID cards of voters despite jarring discrepancies in their particulars. 

Meanwhile, avoiding the appointment of officers from a particular sector is a first as far as the EC is concerned. However, EC authorities maintained that the criteria set for appointment as a returning officer are the availability of the officer and the person's knowledge and experience of election procedures. 

It may be noted that the respective district collectors hand over the list of eligible returning officers to the EC. The EC will then conduct an inquiry about each of the officers recommended in the list. It is only after this that the returning officers are appointed.