Teachers on poll duty should get to vote

Parigi: The president of Telangana State United Teachers’ Federation (TSUTF) CH Venkataratnam demanded that teachers who are involved in the election work should be provided with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to exercise their franchises. Addressing a meeting of teachers in the mandal centre, he stressed that EVMs should be arranged for teachers on the poll duty, as they were likely to be inconvenienced by the postal ballot facility.

“If they have to exercise their ballot in a scientific manner, a modern facility should be provided to teachers,” he said. Venkataratnam wanted the administration to provide copies of the orders to all the teachers on election duty, without any need for authentication by a gazette officer. He said that teachers who are facing problems should be exempted from poll duty and steps should be taken to ensure peaceful conduct of polling.