Work in many departments, particularly the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), Education and Agriculture, has been affected as the staff has been deputed for election work. People visiting the department offices are being asked to return after the 10th of the month to get their work done. Gopinath, of Kuvempunagar, complained that he had been visiting the MCC for a change of katha but the staff there said that the concerned officer had been assigned election work. He was asked to come after April 14.
Similarly Anupama, a school teacher, said that she was asked by the staff at Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to come after April 14. Similarly, a number of people complained about the absence of officials at government departments.
T. Venkatesh, Additional Commissioner and Additional Deputy Commissioner, told The Hindu that scores of officials from different departments have been assigned poll duties. He said that the officials were assigned the job of sector magistrates, flying squads, Model Code of Conduct observers, and also for video viewing and surveillance teams. Commissioners of all nine zones of the MCC have also been deputed for election work.
Besides this, over 1,903 officials from different departments have been picked for election duty, Mr. Venkatesh said. He added that they would be appointed as Presiding officers (PROs), Assistant Presiding officers (APROs) and Polling officers (POs). They were being trained on two different days and their work would be over by April 10, he said.
Delegating work
Official sources at the Deputy Commissioner’s office told The Hindu that officials from various departments, including Forest, CESOM, Sericulture, Horticulture, Agriculture, MCC, Social Welfare and Public Works, have been assigned election duty. Sources said the officials had been asked to hand over the charge to subordinates so that work would not be hampered in their absence. Important works that have to be approved by concerned officials are being withheld in the offices, the sources said, adding that other routine works were not disturbed.
