Lucknow: UP govt employees registered as voters in the upcoming biennial elections to 11 Legislative Council constituencies will be entitled to special casual leave on polling day, Oct 23, to exercise their franchise.Chief election officer Navdeep Rinwa on Tuesday said the provision would apply to eligible employees who are bona fide voters in the five Graduates’ and six Teachers’ constituencies going to polls.The five Graduates’ constituencies are Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Allahabad-Jhansi, while the six Teachers’ constituencies are Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Bareilly-Moradabad and Gorakhpur-Faizabad.Rinwa said UP govt’s general administration dept issued the necessary notification in accordance with the Election Commission’s directions.Under the arrangement, eligible state govt employees who are registered voters in the respective constituencies will be granted special casual leave on Oct 23 to enable them to cast their votes without affecting their official responsibilities.The provision is intended to facilitate participation of eligible employees in the electoral process, particularly those who may otherwise face difficulty reaching polling stations because of their duty schedules.The elections will be held to fill seats representing graduates and teachers in the UP Legislative Council, the upper house of the state legislature.Only employees whose names figure on the electoral rolls of the respective constituencies will be eligible for the special leave facility.
