Rourkela: An employee of the Regulated Market Committee (RMC) in Odisha’s Sundargarh district has been suspended for allegedly taking a selfie with electronic voting machines (EVMs) and VVPATs during the recent elections.
According to sources, the action was taken against the junior accountant of the RMC after his photo with EVMs went viral on social media and a social worker lodged a complaint with the district Collector of Sundargarh demanding action against him and repoll.
Acting on the complaint, the Collector had asked the sub-collector of Panposh to conduct a probe into the matter.
As per the report of the sub-collector, employees of the RMC had been put on duty as there was shortage of manpower for packing and dispatching the EVMs and BBPATs to the district headquarters after counting of votes.
It was sated that junior accountant of RMC Ajay Kumar Pradhan took a selfie on the veranda of the strongroom, which was considered a gross negligence in duty and misconduct. The act amounted to violation of service rule 15 of Orissa Civil Services (CCA) Rules, 1962, sources said.
Based on the report, the junior accountant was placed under suspension until further order.
The sub-collector’s report further stated that the selfie was taken after completion of counting of votes and declaration of results. Therefore, it had no impact on the poll results.
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