Anu Kumari, District Collector of Thiruvananthapuram, on Wednesday made it clear that participation of student groups would be purely on a voluntary basis and nobody would be compelled to join the ongoing SIR process in the State.
Reacting to the instructions by Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty to the education department officials to ensure that learning of students is not disturbed after receiving official letters from EROs seeking deployment of student volunteers for SIR of the electoral roll, Thiruvananthapuram District Collector said that they have taken note of it and students who have exams can avoid it.
Since they have exams their study should not be impacted. We have taken note of that. Most of our volunteers are college students. It is mostly first-year students who have come forward, as 2nd and 3rd year students have exams. It is a voluntary activity. Students who have time available are welcome. School students who have exams can avoid it. Going door to door is the work of BLOs. Volunteers are helping in mapping and digitization," she added.
Earlier, Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty had expressed his concern in the backdrop of a set of educational institutions in Kozhikode and Thrissur receiving official letters from EROs demanding the services of student volunteers, including members of NSS, NCC, Scouts, Guides and Souhrida Club for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
He said strict instructions have been issued to officials of the Education Department to ensure that the students' learning is not disrupted.
Speaking to reporters, V Sivankutty said, "The demand by some revenue officials to deploy National Service Scheme and NCC student volunteers for election-related duties, including the revision of the voter list, will adversely affect children's studies. According to the Right to Education Act, students' instructional time must be protected. Though the NSS and NCC encourage extracurricular activities and social service, it is not proper to continuously keep students out of regular classes on academic days to engage them in office work and field duties." "Using children for official work, unrelated to educational purposes, amounts to denying students their right to education. Stringent directions have been given to the officials in the education department to see that the studies of the students are not affected," he said.
Presently, as part of the intensive electoral roll verification, the Election Commission of India has designated a total of 5,623 personnel working under the education department as Booth Level Officers. Of these, 2,938 are teachers, 2,104 are non-teaching staff, and 581 fall under the category of others. V Sivankutty further said, "The state government has urged the Central Government to immediately release the SSK fund. The state has sent a letter to the Centre pointing this out. The SSK fund has not been released for the past two and half years. Out of Rs 456 crore, only Rs 91.42 crore has been sanctioned by the Centre. BJP's state leaders and Union ministers are intervening in withholding the funds. The state BJP leadership and the Union ministers from Kerala have a role in blocking the funds in this manner. They must respond to this or take steps to ensure that the money that rightfully belongs to the state is released."
