As Karnataka goes to polls on March 10, all private businesses, including construction firms and factories, will remain closed in the state.
The rule does not apply to essential services, including hospitals and hotels. Officials said exemptions would be given to companies that might face enormous financial loss but they would be allowed to run only by employing non-voters.
Ahead of the polls, District Electoral Officer Tushar Girinath met representatives of industries, factories, hotels and hospitals on different occasions to understand their views on providing paid leave to employees on the polling day. He said the exemption would be given on a case-to-case basis.
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"We have informed the representatives to declare a paid holiday to all employees. This will also put an end to confusion over segregating voters and non-voters. If it is an essential service, the employer will be permitted to run the process with the help of non-voters," said Girinath, who is also the chief commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The rule, he added, also applies to construction workers who are largely migrants.
According to the instructions issued to the chief secretary and the chief electoral officer, the Election Commission had cited Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which provides for the grant of paid holiday to the employees on the day of the poll.
What the rule says...
"Every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking or any other establishment and entitled to vote at election be granted a holiday,” the rule states.
The rule also states that paid holidays also be granted to employees who work on a shift basis. "Even those electors, including casual workers working outside the constituency concerned, would be entitled to the benefit of a paid holiday,” the EC’s letter to the Karnataka administrators states.