The Election Commission has ordered action against private companies, including TCS, HCL and Wipro, for not declaring a holiday to enable employees cast their votes in the sixth phase of Parliamentary elections on Thursday, according to Praveen Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer.

Addressing mediapersons at the conclusion of polling in Tamil Nadu, Kumar said officials of the Election Commission and the Labour Department inspected the premises of these IT companies and those of Voltas and Travel Trends following complaints from employees.

The polling regulator has ordered that First Information Reports be filed against such companies. They will be held accountable under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which provides for grant of a paid holiday to employees on the day of polls.

The Tamil Nadu Government had declared Thursday, the polling day, a public holiday.

Kumar said Labour Department officials found over 30,000 workers on duty at the TCS Siruseri campus and asked them to go home. At a Wipro campus, over 200 workers were on duty out of an estimated 4,000, he said, without specifying the location. At HCL Navalur, 76 workers were present out of a total of 5,000.

Poll officials also found workers on duty at another HCL campus and on the premises of Voltas and Travel Trends. Stringent action would be taken against them, Kumar said.

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