A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) as well as the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC) to spare women above 50 years of age from election related works and provide safety, security and basic amenities to others.
M. Sasikala, a 25-year-old advocate from Chennai, has filed the PIL petition on the ground that women suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other co-morbidities, due to their age, find it very difficult to cope with non availability of proper food, clean drinking water and rest rooms when they get engaged for election work.
In an affidavit filed through her counsel D. Baskar, the petitioner said, she was engaged for works related to the Assembly elections held in April 2021. Stating that she stood witness to numerous difficulties faced by women engaged for election related work, the petitioner said, women were deputed to polling booths in remote areas and were expected to stay there overnight.
Most of those booths lacked basic amenities such as availability of food, drinking water and toilet facilities and those who suffer the most because of it were the women aged above 50 years, the petitioner said. She also complained of the women being forced to spend an entire night in polling booths which do not even have fans and doors.
“I personally witnessed the women employees being put to serious human rights violations,” the litigant said and sought a direction to spare women aged above 50 years from election related work and provide basic amenities to others.
