Eligible graduate and teacher voters in Maharashtra’s Pune division will receive special leave to vote in the constituency elections scheduled for Friday, October 23, while employees of private establishments will be entitled to a two-hour concession, the divisional administration has said.
The special casual leave will be available in addition to the regular casual leave entitlement of eligible employees. The measure applies to graduate and teacher voters registered for the Pune division constituencies and is intended to ensure that work commitments do not prevent them from exercising their franchise.
The administration said the provision is based on Section 135 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which provides for paid leave for voting. The special leave announced for the election will therefore apply to eligible graduate and teacher voters on polling day.
However, employees working in private establishments will not receive a full day of special casual leave under the direction. Instead, such employees must be given a two-hour concession to enable them to travel to their polling stations and vote.
The information was provided by divisional commissioner and election returning officer Sheetal Teli-Ugle. The administration has directed the relevant establishments to provide the necessary concession to eligible voters on the polling day.
The arrangement places responsibility on employers to facilitate voting access for employees covered by the graduate and teacher constituencies. Voters using the leave or concession will still need to confirm their polling station and comply with the election authority’s voting procedures, although no further procedural details were provided in the announcement.
