Come election time, and all the hype and hoopla center around candidates, manifestos, party-hopping, and more. But spare a thought for the silent army of presiding officers and polling officers who constitute the backbone of the election exercise.
Polling officers have to be at the venue the night before. Very often, there are no proper arrangements for accommodation and food. Forced to put up in classrooms, they remain at the mercy of the natural elements a.k.a. mosquitoes, summer heat, and robbers. Ironically, such adversities may be a blessing in disguise, for the election commission mandates a minimum of 100 mock polling in each booth before start of the actual polling. Considering that the actual polling starts very early in the day, the mock polling has to start at least 5 AM to complete a century, and for this the presiding officers have to wake up at least by 4 PM.
You might have guessed it by now, the remuneration for the poll-duty arrives very late, if at all it.
If there is a survey on for agencies and companies taking care of its own, you can bet that the election commission will not top the list.