Vishnu Sharma says he had to be at the election department office every day for a year. Pics/Datta Kumbhar

December 6, 2016, was probably the happiest day in the lives of Narayan Subramaniam (54), a laboratory assistant, and Vishnu Sharma (42), a peon with the government-aided North Bombay Welfare Society’s High School in Ghatkopar (W). They were called to the election commission’s office at Vidyavihar and handed their relieving letters, thereby putting an end to their year-and-a-half-long poll duty ordeal, that had kept them away from their official work. When repeated requests by the school, asking for their staffers back fell on deaf ears, mid-day’s May 15, 2016 reportfinally did the trick.