# Kota panchayat polls: Medical board mandatory for duty leave 2026-10-07T22:07:38+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Employees seeking exemption from panchayat election duty in Kota on health grounds will now require a medical board report. District Election Officer Piyush Samaria has directed the superintendent of Maharao Bhim Singh Hospital (MBS) Kota to form a medical board for this purpose. The medical board will examine personnel and officers assigned election duty and submit a report. Decisions on applications for exemption on health grounds will be made only based on the board's report. Submitting an application citing a health issue or being absent without permission will not automatically grant exemption from election duty. The election officer stated that personnel with genuine health issues must undergo examination by the medical board as per the prescribed procedure. Only a decision taken at the competent level based on the board's report will be considered valid for exemption or release from election duty. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The directive tightens the process for seeking medical exemption from election duty in Kota. By mandating a medical board report, the election officer aims to prevent misuse of health claims by employees seeking to avoid duty. This places the burden of proof squarely on the personnel, who must now undergo official examination rather than simply submitting an application. The rule explicitly states that absence without proper cause will not be accepted, reinforcing the expectation of compliance for all assigned staff during the panchayat elections in 2026. ## Coverage - bhaskar.com Straight news report on official directive, no editorial framing This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Kota, MBS Hospital Kota, Piyush Samaria Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kota-panchayat-polls-medical-board-mandatory-for-duty-leave/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kota-panchayat-polls-medical-board-mandatory-for-duty-leave/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/