Polling officials cast votes at the facilitation center of Sree Gyanakshi Vidyaniketan School in Rajarajeswaranagar, Bengaluru on May 9. Photo credits: K. Murali Kumar
Bangalore,
After the Election Commission received several complaints that Bengaluru-based IT/BT companies had not declared a holiday for employees to vote on May 10, Wednesday, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has asked private companies that failed to give the holiday. Warned of action against. staff for election
The BBMP, in a release on Tuesday, said, “In view of the Karnataka Assembly elections to be held on May 10, to facilitate voters to cast their votes under Section 135 (b) 1 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, grants paid staff on the day of polling.” Holiday is mandatory on Wednesday.”
“This applies to every person employed in any trade, business, industrial undertaking, or any other establishment and entitled to vote at an election to the House of the People or to the Legislative Assembly of a State, the day of his poll being a holiday,” the release added. Went.
talking to Hindu, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said that he has already received several complaints that various companies have not announced the holiday. In this regard, we have already issued an order to give leave to the employees on the day of polling. However, some companies are not following it. Any establishment that does not comply with this order, the CEO of the company will be prosecuted,” he said.
The release also said that in case of any violation in this regard by any organization, strict legal action will be initiated against such organization as per the Representation of the People Act 1951 and other relevant laws.
BBMP has advised citizens to report such incidents by dialing 1950 (toll-free number).
Karnataka Inc declares election holiday for employees
Businesses have declared a closed holiday on Wednesday, May 10, to lakhs of employees, including technocrats, ITES executives, other professionals, start-up employees, MSME workers, garment workers and construction workers, to allow them to cast their votes without voting. to be encouraged. any inconvenience.
Top-league IT service providers such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro have confirmed that their offices will remain closed in the state so that their employees can exercise their franchise comfortably. Karnataka has a pool of around 2 million technical workers.
Almost all technical and manufacturing multinational companies and research and development organizations have also declared a closed holiday due to the assembly elections in Karnataka. Employees of KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY are also given leave on polling day. State and central PSUs in the state will also remain closed on Wednesday.
According to various trade bodies, Kasia, FKCCI and BCIC, more than 6 lakh medium, small, micro-enterprises, which employ lakhs of workers, have also exempted them from work on polling day.
However, some private companies had said that with the work-from-home option, many employees have returned to their hometowns, including those outside the state. An HR representative of a company said, “Those who are from Karnataka can take paid leave to vote by applying for it.”