ECI deploys 49 doctors in West Bengal polls; move rolled back after protest

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like A district election officer (DEO) in West Bengal asked 49 doctors of a state government hospital to join election duty by end of March, before protests by medical authorities prompted the roll back of the order, people familiar with the matter said. Representational image. (Unsplash/Representational Image)According to Election Commission guidelines, government hospital doctors are usually not assigned poll duty in assembly or parliamentary elections because medical staff, including doctors, nurses and ANMs, are categorised under essential services and are generally not requisitioned for election duty. In this case, nearly half of the hospital’s administrative staff have been deployed in the West Bengal poll process, said Ramprasad Roy, the college principal. DEO, Hooghly, by start of second week this month, issued requisition notices to 49 doctors at Prafulla Chandra Sen Government Medical College and Hospital in Arambagh, Hooghly district, directing them to serve as presiding officers at polling booths. The list included assistant professors and specialist doctors from key departments. HT has seen the order. Khursheed Ali Qadri, the District Magistrate also serves as the DEO. College principal Ramprasad Roy told HT that he formally opposed the move, warning of serious consequences for hospital operations. “Deploying this many doctors simultaneously will directly affect the OPD and other critical functions of the hospital,” Roy said. “We are already functioning under heavy patient load, and the absence of specialist doctors will impact emergency services and routine care,” he added. Prafulla Chandra Sen Government Medical College and Hospital in Arambagh is a government-run teaching hospital with a bed strength of around 500. It serves patients primarily from the Arambagh subdivision of Hooghly district and nearby areas, including parts of Paschim Medinipur, catering to a large rural population in the region. “Multiple written representations were submitted to district authorities seeking exemption, but the initial response was not in favour of the hospital. It was only after sustained resistance that the DEO agreed to withdraw the deployment of doctors. However, the hospital’s administrative staff continue to remain on election duty, leaving the institution stretched on polling day,” Roy added. There is no precedent of government doctors being assigned presiding officer roles in parliamentary or assembly polls, a senior ECI official said. The DEO operates at the district level under the supervision of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the state, who in turn functions under the ECI. While the DEO implements poll-related decisions locally, directions are issued by the ECI through the CEO. In the 2023 panchayat elections in West Bengal, the State Election Commission had reversed a similar move following protests from doctors’ associations. Under usual practice, polling duties are assigned to schoolteachers and administrative staff, where temporary absence does not affect critical services. Former chief election commissioner OP Rawat told HT that the move departs from long-standing election practices. “Emergency and essential services have always been exempt from election duty—that has been the convention in every election I have been associated with,” Rawat said. “This is the first time I have seen doctors being deployed in such a manner, and it raises serious concerns.” The Representation of the People Act empowers DEOs to requisition government personnel, but Rawat said such powers have traditionally been exercised with safeguards. “There is a difference between what is legally permissible and what is appropriate in practice,” he said. West Bengal will vote in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4. “In this case, the matter has been handled at the DEO and CEO levels, and the ECI headquarters has not received any update on it,” the same senior ECI official said.