‘Teachers set to be barred from serving as polling, counting agents’
Times of India | 17 January 2026
Kolkata: Schoolteachers are likely to be barred from serving as polling and counting agents for political parties during elections, a senior Election Commission official said on Friday.
The ban is expected to cover not only govt teachers but also teachers in govt-aided schools. The official said, "Persons receiving any honorarium or aid from the government, or persons working part-time in any government or aided institution, shall not act as a polling agent. A polling agent cannot be someone who receives any honorarium from the state exchequer."
The aim is to ensure there are enough polling officials and presiding officers for the Assembly elections, as the Election Commission is concerned about a staff shortage.
On these grounds, teachers in aided schools would also be barred from being polling agents, allowing teachers and school staff to be deployed for poll duty.
During the Assembly elections, Bengal is expected to have around 94,000 booths. Each booth requires four polling personnel — a presiding officer and three polling officers. To staff the booths, more than six lakh personnel would be required, considering the actual requirement of 3.8 lakh at the booths and those kept in reserve. Significant staff strength is also needed in the offices of District Election Officers and at counting centres.
The official said that since govt employees are ineligible to be polling agents, the Commission is now considering disallowing schoolteachers and staff as well. Teachers are expected to remain neutral, whereas a polling agent is required to represent the interests of a candidate from a particular political party.
"Normally, a polling agent is from the same booth or the neighbourhood, but if a candidate has no agent in an area, he can appoint anyone from the same Assembly constituency as his polling agent, and the agent must have an EPIC," he added. He also said there is no restriction on appointing a panchayat pradhan, panchayat members, or councillors as polling agents.
"But, law says that no sitting Minister of State or Union minister, MP, MLA, mayor, or Zilla Parishad chairman can be an election agent, polling agent, or counting agent for any candidate during an election. This also applies to chairpersons and members of Central PSUs, state PSUs, government bodies, or corporations. Paramedical or healthcare staff working in government or government-aided institutions, fair price shop dealers, and Anganwadi employees are also ineligible to be polling agents."
Quoting Section 134(A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, he said, "No person in the service of the government can act as a polling agent. This is an offence and is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both."