FIR against three companies

Most of the calls received by the control room of the elections department on Thursday were enquiries from private firm employees regarding the declaration of paid holiday.

Employees were made to work on Thursday in as many as six Information Technology (IT) firms in violation of the paid-holiday fiat of the poll machinery

Following reports about IT firms not declaring a paid holiday and making employees work despite instructions, officials sent two teams — from the poll machinery and from the labour and information technology (IT) departments — to inspect the firms on the IT corridor, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar said on Thursday.

Most of the calls received by the control room of the elections department on Thursday were enquiries from private firm employees regarding the declaration of paid holiday.

While the number of employees was minimum in some firms, the teams found nearly 30,000 employees working in one of the firms. All the employees were sent out to enable them to cast their vote.

A number of employees of private companies registered complaints with the district election office in Chennai here.

A total of 21 companies were found to be operating unlawfully on Election Day in Chennai and its suburbs. “FIRs have been registered against three companies,” said an official of the Chennai District Election Office.

The poll machinery will conduct an enquiry and for violation of the fiat, cases would be registered against firms under Section 135 B of the Representation of People Act, he added.

(With inputs from

Aloysius Xavier Lopez)