Navi Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has registered a criminal case against CIDCO Assistant Executive Engineer for allegedly remaining absent from election duty, marking the first enforcement action after the civic body warned of FIRs against employees neglecting responsibilities for the General Elections.
Previous Warnings Ignored
The engineer who was appointed as a zonal officer for the municipal elections, reportedly failed to report for duty despite being served a notice, prompting the administration to initiate legal action. A complaint was lodged by Administrative Officer Hemchandra Patil at Nerul Police Station, following which police registered a case under Section 134 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
According to the civic administration, the officer had reported for duty on January 1 but remained consistently absent thereafter. Even after a notice was issued to him on January 3, he did not resume election work, forcing the authorities to act.
The action follows an earlier warning issued by the civic administration after 451 employees appointed for election duty failed to report, prompting authorities to adopt a zero-tolerance approach ahead of polling scheduled for January 15.
Acting on the directions of Municipal Commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde, an urgent meeting of principals from 101 schools was convened at the Gyan Kendra at the NMMC headquarters. Additional Commissioner Dr Rahul Gethe, Deputy Commissioner (Administration) Kisanrao Palande, Deputy Commissioner (Education) Sanghratna Khillare, and Education Officer Ashok Kadus had reiterated that election duty is a national responsibility and mandatory for all designated staff.
Absentee Employees Monitored
The Election Department had directed absentee employees to report to the offices of their respective Returning Officers within the stipulated deadline, warning that failure to do so would invite police action. School heads were instructed to submit names of those who did not join duty, forming the basis for legal proceedings.
The action comes amid heightened vigilance by the NMMC to ensure smooth conduct of the elections. The corporation has deployed over 6,500 officers and employees for election duties across 1,148 polling stations in the city.
Officials said the administration has already issued legal notices to 782 employees who were absent from mandatory election training programmes.
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