Action against IT firms for working on polling day

CHENNAI: Election authorities lodged a police complaint against five companies at an IT park here for functioning on the day of Lok Sabha polling in Tamil Nadu today in violation of rules and sent back around 2,000 employees home to enable them to vote.

Officials said they received comlaints from employees of firms like Wipro in an IT park that they had been asked to report for duty despite the provision in law that employers and commercial establishments must grant holiday with wages for their employees on polling day.

"When we visited ELCOT IT Park at Sholinganallur, we found that Tech Mahindra, HCL, Sodexho, Wipro and Voltas were working as usual," Sholinganallur Revenue Inspector R Jayanthi Mala told PTI, adding this was a violation of election rules.

Well in advance, the government declared holiday for polls and requested IT firms to comply. A complaint has been filed with the police seeking action against the companies for flouting government poll norms, she said.

About 2,000 employees were sent out of the ELCOT premises by officials.

"We have told the companies that there should be no more shifts and have locked the campus gate," she said.

This is perhaps the first time, the election authorities have taken action and filed a formal complaint against companies for working on polling day.

State Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar had yesterday warned of penal action against those violating the statutory provision giving workers paid leave on poll day.