Rohit Shishodia
Resident doctors of Uttar Pradesh have sought the intervention of the State Election Commission to address their problem of not being able to cast votes due to the busy schedule in health facilities.

The doctors, under the banner of Uttar Pradesh Doctor's Association-URDA, in a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, UP, have urged that this issue be addressed with a proper assessment of the problem and immediate action to prevent their loss of vote.

Dr Neeraj Kumar Mishra, Chief Coordinator, UPDA, told DTMT: “Around 99% doctors do not cast their votes across India. If I talk about alone UP, there are thousands of doctors working in 10-12 medical colleges across the state. These doctors can’t cast their votes due to hectic work schedule.”

“This problem should be assessed first by the Election Commission as to how much it exists. Once assessment is done, what we are saying will be verified. Once our claims are confirmed, we will have options like postal ballot in various places. This can be urged before the Election Commission,” added Dr Mishra.

“This will help this elite and educated class to utilize its basic constitutional right. We have realized in recent times that due to constraints of daily duty schedule and other reasons our medical fraternity is not able to perform its basic duty of  casting votes,” explained Dr Mishra.