State staff try to avoid poll duty

Over 200 employees from various government departments have sought exemption from poll duty stating that either they or one of their family members are suffering from cancer.

Officials responsible for pooling in government employees from various departments for poll duty are shocked over the number of cancer cases being reported. They wondered how fast “cancer” spread when elections arrived. In fact, a majority of such employees were even willing to submit medical certificates to prove their claims.

Over 24,000 employees are required for poll duty in Hyderabad district alone and officials said that this time the “cancer cases” were more compared to any previous election.

One employee even claimed that he was mentally unstable. When election authorities asked him how he was managing to continue in his government job, he replied that he had not shared his medical condition with the department fearing that he would lose his job.

These are only a few cases. Though poll officials have been appealing to employees not to evade poll duty on flimsy grounds and excuses, many employees are continuing to cite everything from sickness to children’s marriage, pregnancy to pilgrimage, blood pressure and diabetes, to epilepsy and measles, to name a few.