Warrant issued after Gujarat teacher fails to join poll duty; given booth close to home

Instead, she sent us a written representation saying she cannot join duty because Ghatlodia is far from her house in Gota. She was given duty near her house as we found her reasons genuine, Patel said.Voting for all the 26 seats in Gujarat will be conducted in a single phase on May 7.

A teacher of a government primary school in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city was detained by police and produced before a poll officer who had issued a warrant against her for not joining election duty citing the distance between her house and allotted area, an official said on Monday.

After taking into consideration her explanation and following her request, Deputy Collector and Assistant Returning Officer Umang Patel allotted Hinal Prajapati, who is a teacher in Chenpur primary school, poll duty near her residence in Gota here.

''She was was selected to work as Booth Level Officer or BLO in Ghatlodia area of the city in February but she did not join duty. Instead, she sent us a written representation saying she cannot join duty because Ghatlodia is far from her house in Gota. She requested she be given duty in a nearby area,'' said Patel.

She was asked to come and explain her stand and a warrant was issued by Patel under the Representation of the People Act after she failed to do so.

''Since we have limited time in view of the approaching polls, we issued a warrant against her and asked the local police to produce her at the executive magistrate's office in Gota where I sit. She was given duty near her house as we found her reasons genuine,'' Patel said.

Voting for all the 26 seats in Gujarat will be conducted in a single phase on May 7.

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