LAHORE, Aug 16: No allowance or honorarium will be given to Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) appointed for the next general elections.

As confirmed by provincial election commission officials, over 500 additional sessions judges and civil judges of the subordinate judiciary who were appointed ROs and AROs all across the country would be doing this extra assignment without any additional payment.

A source disclosed that no instructions from the election commission regarding the payment of allowance to ROs and AROs had been received yet.

“There is no policy for paying these officials and there is a very remote chance that the election commission will reverse its policy,” the source said.

In case of reversal of the decision, the announcement would be made after the elections.

It was learnt that judges being appointed ROs and AROs had demanded extra allowance on grounds that the commission had announced honorarium for the revising authorities appointed to hear objections against delimitations done in April last.

Moreover, the provincial election commission had proposed a payment of Rs5,000, Rs3,000 and Rs2,000, respectively, for a work force of over 46,000 comprising assistant registration officers, supervisors and enumerators collecting data for electoral rolls during the first quarter of this year.

However, sources said that the policy had remained unchanged for the next elections owing to budgetary constraints. The sources said approximately 15 per cent increase in the polling stations had led to a proportionate increase in the expenses. These expenses pertained to the preparation of new ballot boxes, ballot papers and repair of buildings to be used as polling stations.

The officials had further defended the policy by saying that a substantial amount of money would be spent on the training of the whole electoral staff including ROs, AROs, presiding officers and poling officers. Such expense, according to the officials, had further restricted the commission from announcing any allowance.

The ROs and the AROs would start functioning their duties from Aug 19 with the first day of receiving nomination papers. Under the law, the RO is responsible for the scrutiny of nomination papers of every candidate, prescribing the number of polling stations and polling staff required in his allotted electoral constituency, inspecting the buildings to be used as polling stations and appointing presiding officers at the polling stations.