Poll duty puts govt officials selected for Haj trip in a fix

Hyderabad : Nearly150 Muslim officers from various departments of the Telangana government are caught in a fix with election duty coinciding with their religious customs. They have appealed to the Election Commission of India for exemption from election duties due to their scheduled Haj pilgrimage this year.

They claim that approximately 120 to 150 government employees, who have been selected for the Haj pilgrimage, have submitted leave applications to their respective department heads to perform the pilgrimage. However, these department heads have rejected their leave requests on the grounds of election duties. It is said that during the elections, the government deploys these employees for election duties. The officers include working in municipal corporations, education, health, police, water board, panchayat, among others.

A social activist and MBT leader, Amjedullah Khan, took up the issue, as these officers are facing difficulties in attending election duties ahead of their holy pilgrimage. The election duty has also collided with the Haj camps, and training sessions.

Amjedullah said that during the elections, the department heads are not granting leave for these officers, but the ECI must exempt them from the election duties to perform Haj, as it is one of the pillars of Islam. Furthermore, according to regulations, government officials who fail to attend electoral training sessions or fulfill their election duties may face legal consequences, with criminal cases being filed against those who are absent from the training sessions or duties. He said, “The Haj process commences at least six months prior, which was before the election code of conduct. We urge the ECI to exempt them from election duties.”

A representation was also given to the ECI to exempt Muslim government servants from election duty to perform Haj. In a letter, he requested that the Chief Election Commissioner of New Delhi take stock of this ongoing issue and ask the CEO of Telangana, Chief Secretary Government of Telangana, to pass the necessary instructions to all the heads of the departments in Telangana to grant them leave to perform Hajj and settle the issue amicably.

Amjed accused senior officers of instructing the selected Haj pilgrims to fulfill their election duties until the polling day and then take leave afterward. He highlighted the timing conflict by stating, "The Haj camp in the State begins on May 9, and polling day is on May 13. However, the election results are not until June 4. This poses potential difficulties for officers who have flights scheduled for Haj."

A selected Haj pilgrim, who wished to remain anonymous, mentioned that they had submitted leave requests to their department head twice, but the requests were not processed and kept on hold. "We have appealed to the Election Commission of India and other election authorities to grant us leave for our sacred pilgrimage," the officer further stated.