By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh): The Uttar Pradesh Information Commission will hear on 21st July a case related to the deployment of Urdu language-knowing polling officers at polling stations during elections in the state.
The Urdu Development Organization had filed a petition with the state Election Commission requesting that Urdu language-knowing polling officers be deployed during assembly elections in the state. The Organization had argued that after Urdu became second official language of the state in 1989, it was right of Urdu speakers to make such demand and it was a constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission to meet the demand.
With no response from the Election Commission, the Organization moved to Information Commission. Acting on the Organization’s petition in February 2005, Chief Information Commissioner M A Khan asked the state Election Commission to complete arrangements for deployment of Urdu language-knowing polling officers three months before the next Lok Sabha elections. In case Election Commission faces shortage of such staffs, they should ask the government to provide the same, Khan had said in his order.
Instead of executing the order, the Election Commission moved to the Information Commission asking it to reconsider the decision. The Information Commission will hear that petition of the Election Commission on 21st July.