Gujarat firms sign MoU with Election Commission, to name, shame workers who don’t vote | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
The MoUs have been signed with individual units as well as industry bodies, and the attempt to get more on board will continue till polling day. Assembly elections are due in the state later this year.
Disclosing this, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Bharathi told The Indian Express: “We have signed 233 MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) that will help us enforce the guidelines of the Election Commission. For the first time in Gujarat, we will be monitoring the electoral participation of the workforce belonging to 1,017 industrial units.”
The MoUs have been signed with individual units as well as industry bodies, and the attempt to get more on board will continue till polling day. Assembly elections are due in the state later this year.
As reported by The Indian Express, the EC had, in June, asked central and state government departments, public sector units and corporate entities with 500-plus employees to appoint nodal officers to identify employees who avail leave on polling day but don’t vote.
“In order to expand our reach, we decided to monitor industries employing 100 or more workers in Gujarat. The human resources officials in these units have been appointed as nodal officers. They will prepare a list of employees who don’t vote and publish it on their websites or notice boards,” said Bharathi.
WHILE THE EC has said it is an attempt to address voter apathy, the decision to name and shame those who don’t vote may be seen as a coercive step towards compulsory voting.
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