MUMBAI: Today, Mumbai’s
corporate honchos
will trade their suits for sneakers as they queue up to vote. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran will cast their votes at Villa Theresa High School on Peddar Road, while Mahindra Group boss Anand Mahindra will exercise his franchise at Walsingham School in Malabar Hill.
Section 135 B of the Representation of the People Act mandates businesses and establishments in the voting area declare a paid holiday on voting day.
Essential services, including hospitals and electricity providers, have implemented flexible schedules to ensure that both civic duties and critical services are maintained.
“To facilitate casting of votes on Monday, functional heads may allow employees to either report late or leave early up to a maximum duration of three hours if their duty timings are between 7am and 5pm,” read the memo of a news media outlet.
At air conditioning and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star, “employees in customer service and those attending to emergency operations will be given compensatory off,” said the company’s MD B Thiagarajan.
In a city notorious for
voter apathy
, authorities have been going all out to boost the turnout and bring it closer to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls’ national average of 67%. Mumbai’s overall voting percentage has risen over 50% only three times since 1991. In 2019 polls, the six Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai recorded a voter turnout of 55%.
However, debates have emerged in certain quarters on whether providing an
election holiday
results in higher voter turnout.
“Employees are vital for success in any organisation and for the nation. Enabling them to vote without work commitments can be a significant catalyst for increasing voter turnout,” said Homesfy’s head of people’s process Neha Mishra.
However, the fact that election day in Mumbai is on a Monday, the first day of the corporate week, may dampen enthusiasm due to the pressure of meeting various deadlines. Blackstone-backed Aadhar Housing Finance MD Rishi Anand said: “While voting is not obligatory, a day off will definitely encourage voters to cast their ballot.” “If they do vote, it will help in deciding who will be the people’s representative to run the country on our behalf.”
Meanwhile, on a lighter note, the National Restaurant Association of India’s Mumbai chapter is offering a “democracy discount” on Monday and Tuesday, providing a 20% reduction on dine-in bills to those who cast their votes. An inked finger will be mandatory to avail the offer.