Electors entitled to paid holiday on polling days: EC

Patna: The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday announced that electors in Bihar, where elections will be held in two phases next month, are entitled to paid holidays on polling days. Employers who violate this legal provision may face fines.

The EC further said that electors in eight assembly constituencies across various states, where bypolls are scheduled for Nov 11, are also eligible for a paid holiday.

“As per section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking, or any other establishment, and entitled to vote at an election to the House of the people or to the legislative assembly of a state/Union territory, shall be granted a paid holiday on the day of poll,” the EC said.

The EC emphasised that there will be no deduction of wages for such a paid holiday.

“Any employer who contravenes these provisions shall be liable for a fine,” the EC cautioned.

All daily wage and casual workers are also entitled to a paid holiday on election day, the EC said.

The commission noted that electors, including casual and daily wage workers, who are employed in industrial or commercial establishments outside their constituency but are registered as electors in a constituency going to polls, will also benefit from a paid holiday on election day to cast their vote.

The EC has requested states concerned to issue necessary instructions to ensure strict compliance with the provision