The Election Commission has directed all states and union territories to grant paid holidays to voters on the day of the poll for the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. The commission stated that every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking, or any other establishment and entitled to vote shall be granted a paid holiday on the day of the poll. It clarified that no deduction from wages would be made for this paid holiday, and any employer who violates these provisions will be liable to a fine.
The commission also stated that all daily wage and casual workers are entitled to a paid holiday on the day of the poll. It has directed all state and union territory governments to issue necessary instructions to all concerned to ensure strict compliance with these provisions and to ensure that all electors can freely and conveniently exercise their franchise. The election body further informed that electors who are working or employed in industrial or commercial establishments located outside their constituency but are registered as voters in a constituency going to polls shall also be entitled to the benefit of a paid holiday.
