MADURAI: After the Election Commission of India’s notification for the provision of postal ballots did not include railway employees of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU) Assistant Zonal Secretary V Ramkumar wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, seeking the inclusion of the staff from the two aforesaid states in the notified category.
In his letter, V Ramkumar said that he had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting that the facility of postal ballots be extended to the employees of the Indian railway. The staff were then included under the category of absentee voters on essential services, and they were covered under the postal ballot facility. Ramkumar noted that during the state assembly elections in 2021, the essential staff from Tamil Nadu had exercised their franchise through postal ballot.
With the first phase of the Lok Sabha election nearing April 19, Ramkumar requested that the railway staff of Tamil Nadu and Kerala be included in the category for postal ballot. “The ECI has given postal ballot facilities to the essential staff working under various organisations in various states, including the railways. The order, however, did not include the railway employees working in TN and Kerala.
This is against the principles of natural justice. In TN, staff of Mercantile Marine, BSNL, CMRL, Ministry of Information & Broadcast, FCI, and media persons have been included to avail of postal ballot facilities,” the letter read. Thus, he requested the ECI to officially announce the inclusion of the essential staff working in the railways at the earliest. “Otherwise, I will be bound to seek legal action,” said the letter.