HC counters Yogi's 30 lakh ex-gratia for deceased poll staff kin, demands ‘1 cr atleast'

Holding the UP govt and election commission accountable for the deaths of 135 polling staff, an Allahabad High Court's division bench comprising of Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ajit Kumar on Tuesday, said that atleast Rs 1 crore must be awarded as ex-gratia. Stating that the staff was forced to perform polling duty inspite of reluctance, the HC said that the compensation must be at least Rs 1 crore as it was 'deliberate act by state govt and EC in the absence of RT-PCR support'. The Uttar Pradesh govt announced a compensation of Rs 30 lakhs on Thursday to the Allahabad HC.

HC: Atleast Rs 1 crore ex-gratia

"It is not that someone volunteered to render services during an election but it was all made obligatory even while they showed their reluctance. To compensate the loss of life of the bread earner of the family and that too because of the deliberate act on the part of the State and State Election Commission to force them to perform duties in the absence of RTPCR support, the compensation must be at least to the tune of Rs.1,00,00,000," observed the HC. While hearing another case, the HC maintained the Election Commission and the govt to fathom the disastrous consequences of permitting Panchayat elections in UP.

On Thursday, the UP govt had informed the Allahabad HC of offering  a compensation of Rs 30 lakhs to polls workers' families who succumbed to COVID. The HC had issued a notice to the Yogi govt after 135 Teachers, Shiksha Mitras and Investigators had succumbed to COVID while on poll duty for the recently concluded Panchayat polls. The HC warned the govt saying that it was 'an open secret that the government had gone complacent due to weakening of virus impact by the end of 2020'.

700 school staff died due to COVID

The biggest tragedy in UP amid COVID has been the death of 700 school staff who died due to COVID while on poll duty for UP Panchayat polls. As per reports,  the Uttar Pradeshiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh has written to UP CM Adityanath and SEC, listing names of all the deceased who died due to contracting COVID-19 on poll duty, demanding to defer counting on May 2. The Allahabad High Court had pulled up the Yogi govt over the deaths asking why action should not be taken against it for not enforcing Covid protocols. In reply, the state government has denied the allegations and said it has no proof that the teachers died during poll duty and maintained that it did not want to hold the panchayat elections, but was forced to conduct it before 30 April due to an HC order.

Counting was not deferred and BJP managed to win 900 of the 3030 Zila panchayat wards it contested, while SP claims to have won 1000 seats, BSP 300 seats, Congress and AAP bagged 70 seats each. This setback to BJP comes a year before the crucial UP polls - where Yogi Adityanath is eyeing a second term. Over 8.69 lakh posts were up for grabs in these polls. Of these posts, more than 7.32 lakh seats were in the gram panchayat wards, 58,176 in the gram panchayats, 75,852 in the kshetra (block) panchayats and 3,050 in the zila panchayats. In all, there were over 12.89 lakh candidates in the poll fray, of which 3.19 lakh candidates won unopposed.