Jodhpur: In an embarrassing mix-up, Jodhpur zila parishad’s chief executive officer, in his capacity as district election officer, Thursday issued a notice to Member of Parliament Manna Lal Rawat for negligence in election duties, mistakenly believing the latter still held a position as joint commissioner with the state transport department.The notice, which warned Rawat of potential disciplinary action due to a failure to update the list of his subordinate employees on the state govt’s EMS (employee management system) portal in preparation for the upcoming municipal elections, was swiftly retracted following public ridicule on social media Friday.Rawat, who resigned from his state govt post prior to the 2024 general elections, is currently serving as a Lok Sabha member representing Udaipur on a BJP ticket. The goof-up occurred as a govt portal was not updated. Confirming this, Rawat said that district election officer (CEO, zila parishad) Ashish Kumar Mishra called him, admitted the mistake and withdrew the notice.Rawat was earlier posted as the transport department’s joint commissioner in Jodhpur. He took voluntary retirement in 2024 to contest the parliamentary elections that year. Despite his retirement and subsequent election as a public representative, Rawat’s name continued to figure in the list of govt employees maintained by the Jodhpur district election authorities.
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The error came to light after the notice was issued to him, raising questions over the way employee data is maintained and updated by the state election machinery. “It is surprising and worrisome,” said Rawat, adding that despite the govt machinery operating in a digital environment, election-related data was still carrying information that was nearly three years old. Rawat questioned how govt departments were maintaining the data of ordinary citizens and serving employees if the records of a retired senior govt officer had not been removed from the list even after a considerable lapse of time.
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