Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB/SP)
Udupi, Apr 12: Usually employees become nervous whenever they are assigned with election-related duties because of high level of responsibility attached to it. There are many who obtain medical certificates for various reasons as soon as they are deployed on election duties, and approach the officials seeking leave. This is a common scene almost in all government offices.
However, you will find an exception here. Here is a man who gets very busy with work every time the election approaches. He happily and efficiently attends to the work assigned to him with total devotion. He never gets upset with election work and discharges every duty given to him conscientiously. He is Vishwanath Shetty, a 'D' group employee of election department of the office of the deputy commissioner of this district.
In ordinary course, employees work for ten to 15 elections during their entire service. Normally they work two days for each election. But Shetty, since he joined government service 18 years back, has participated in election-related work in over 80 elections, right from the start of the electoral process to the end of the process with the declaration of result and other work connected with it.
When election is on, Shetty is always busy. He works under heavy work pressure, without caring for the duty timings. He attends to work diligently and properly without getting irritated even when over-burdened.
He attends to works like delivering various letters to the concerned in election department, taking xerox copies, properly maintaining files relating to election, keeping stock of election-related stationary and other items, their distribution, and works in counting centers.
Shetty joined government service in 2001 as village assistant with a monthly salary of Rs 900. He has discharged duties in gram panchayat, taluk panchayat, municipal, city municipal, assembly, legislative council, Agricultural Produce Market Committee and Lok Sabha elections.
Shetty knows that casting of vote is a divine duty of the voters and exercising franchise by the citizens is the foundation of success for any democracy. He says that he and other employees work hard to ensure that election work goes on smoothly without hiccups at any stage. He therefore insists that everyone should cast their votes. He feels proud and regards himself lucky at getting a chance to serve the people for smooth conduct of elections. He recollects that in the past, people had to personally go to Bengaluru to collect election-related paraphernalia. But these things directly reach here now. In the past, during counting of ballots, he says he had worked till the next morning. With the introduction of electronic voting machines, hassles have eased, he mentions.
Shetty, who took time off from his busy schedule to talk to us, rushed out as his bosses were calling him for some work.