Jaipur: Rajasthan Home Guards can contest assembly and local body elections without being disqualified merely because they are attached to the force, State Election Commission clarified Saturday, while cautioning that other govt-linked workers may still face the “office of profit” bar.The clarification is significant ahead of the panchayat elections as it guides returning officers on deciding the eligibility of candidates connected with govt schemes, contractual posts, local bodies or cooperative societies.Citing Section 12 of the Rajasthan Home Guards Act, 1963, SEC said Home Guards are exempt from disqualification for elections to the state legislature and local authorities. An official said courts have held that Home Guards are essentially volunteers and do not hold a civil post in the usual sense of govt service.The commission, however, said this protection does not automatically extend to other govt-linked workers. Their eligibility must be assessed under office-of-profit rules, which apply when a person holds a paid post under govt control.For cooperative society managers, SEC said a person holding a salaried full-time or part-time post under a local authority, or under an entity or cooperative society controlled or partly financed by the state govt, may be disqualified. Such managers can contest only if the society is neither govt-controlled nor govt-funded. If it is, they must resign before filing nomination, an official said. Mere membership or shareholding in a cooperative society or incorporated company does not attract disqualification.SEC also asked returning officers to examine contractual personnel and workers under welfare schemes case by case, considering appointment terms, remuneration, tenure, duties and the extent of govt control. Personnel appointed under the Rajasthan Contractual Hiring to Civil Posts Rules, 2022, may be disqualified if their service conditions and termination are controlled by govt.
