Bhubaneswar:The State Government on Tuesday asked all concerned authorities to allow their employees to go on Special Casual Leave to vote during the Panchayat Election in their respective area.
Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Department Principal Secretary Ashok Kumar Meena has written a letter all Secretaries, Heads of Department, Revenue Divisional Commissioners, District Collectors, Public Sector Undertakings, Corporations and Boards to grant of Special Casual Leave to government employees during the three- tier Panchayat Polls.
Elections to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) will be held on February 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 in a phased manner. All Government employees and employees of Government Undertakings, Boards, Corporations and Apex Bodies etc., who have registered themselves as voters in Grama Panchayats, may exercise their franchise for the ensuing PRI election, Mr.Meena said.
Such employees, who desire to exercise their franchise at a place away from their headquarters on the date of the poll, will be allowed Special Casual Leave for a maximum period of three days i.e., one day preceding the poll, one day after the poll and the day on the date of poll.
The leave to be granted may be treated as Special Casual Leave in addition to normal casual leave admissible to them during the calendar year 2022, he said.
The Principal Secretary informed the Secretaries that a written application by the employees will be sufficient to show their enrolment in a particular GP.
The Head of Offices granting the Special Casual Leave will determine the number of days of Special Casual Leave (not exceeding three days) to be sanctioned.
“Ordinarily, the employees should not be restrained from exercising their franchise and should be given all possible facilities. The provision of sparing of staff without any detriment to the official work should be liberally interpreted,” he added.
Besides, all District Collectors have been authorized to declare the day of the poll as notified for Block or GP as a holiday. The day of the poll will also be declared as a local holiday for the judicial courts located within the concerned Block areas.
