Sandeep Manderna My Vehicle has been taken by police saying it is required for election duty...and they dont need my approval...on interrogation we found that narendra modi is visiting and vehicle will be used for his convoy irrespective of my needs....when i talked toelection commission helplines and their representatives they told me to request area SP to get the vehicle released...after every step i could take, i cant get it released and now they are forcing me to provide them key and driver for car otherwise false cases will be registered against us if we dont cooperate with them....A lot of people here in bongaigaon,assam are suffering as their vehicles have been taken by police force...Is there anyone who can support or guide us in this matter...i will not surrender my rights.
KOLKATA: What are the norms for requisition of private vehicles for election duty? Do owners have the right to refuse or are they bound to give up their vehicles for the polls? And what about payments? What happens if a vehicle is damaged? These and many other questions disturb vehicle owners in the run-up to the elections. Many have even moved court over such issue. TOI decided to take up the issue with Dibyendu Sarkar, joint chief electoral officer.
Q. When the state election office requisitions private vehicles, does the owner have the power to refuse handing it over for use in the elections?
A. Sure, he has. If an owner has genuine reasons for not being able to part with the car, the argument would be honoured.
However, the district election officer (DEO) who is issuing the requisition forms, cannot be physically present in serving all of them, so it has been given to police and public vehicles department ( PVD) officials. On the road, when it is being requisitioned, it would be difficult to refuse. I would suggest that those who have been served with requisition notices, but have genuine problems, take their documents to the DEO office and speak to officers in the special cell there.
Q. Would vehicles be returned even after requisition notices are served, if a person has a problem?
A. Yes, they can be returned. The officers will hear them, and not take cars if the problems are genuine. However, do understand, that elections involve tremendous amount of work and so many different kinds of activities. We too take vehicles only because we have to.
Q. Officers have said that government vehicles and commercial vehicles would be the priority, and private vehicles would be taken only as a third option. So why are private vehicles being served requisition notices already? Have the other two options been exhausted?
A. We stick to the stand. We are first going for government and then commercial vehicles. However, we cannot fully exhaust' the first two, as more people depend on commercial vehicles than their own transport. If we take only commercial and government vehicles, the entire public transport system would fall flat. Therefore, we have to "rationally" exhaust the first two options rather than completely exhaust them before we opt for private vehicles. DEOs in charge of each district, have been instructed accordingly.
Q. A genuine concern of private vehicle owners is that the vehicles may not be handled properly or returned with damage....
A. Vehicles are requisitioned with drivers. For, those who have drivers ensure that the drivers are good and they will take care of cars. In case of those without drivers, vehicles are taken with the owners themselves providing drivers. So owners themselves can ensure the cars are in safe hands.
Q. But a vehicle being used in the elections may meet with an accident, or in the middle of a clash and get damaged. Will the EC pay the damages?
A. If such things happen and damages are reported, we will look into individual cases.
Q. Why does it take so long for the drivers' payment to come, the reason why many don't want to take up the work?
A. A two-day payment to drivers called khoraki is paid immediately. For the rest, the drivers' payment is given to the car owner. It does take a bit of time from the district offices to distribute the money after it goes from the state election office. We have to ensure it reaches earlier.
Q. The rates offered for hiring vehicles are not high...
A. Instead of stating whether or not they are high, I'll tell you the rates. They are fixed by the state transport department and are same as the rates at which government vehicles are hired.
For small cars, most commonly Ambassadors, the rate is Rs 400 per day. Fuel charges are paid separately. For bigger cars, it is Rs 590 per day. Both are non-AC rates. A big car with AC is Rs 700 daily. Buses are given Rs 1,150 and autorickshaws Rs 220. Drivers are given payment of Rs 35 for food and if they do night shift, they get Rs 60. This is the khoraki and payment is for two days and given immediately. The rest of their payment is given to the car owners, which the driver is expected to collect from the owner, and this does take a bit longer.
One person has asked the above pertinent question for which I have given a reply from the Times of India given by Swati Sengupta in April 2011.
When I had entered college in 1966, our family too was affected by this requisition. I had gone home for the summer vacations. One day our TMB truck was going to Tatanagar and I accompanied the truck.
On the way, it was requisitioned by the local police for for election duty.
When I reached home, I received a firing from my father for accepting the requisition.
We got the payment after around 8 months in 1967 just before my sister's marriage.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment