New Delhi, April 1 -- A district election officer (DEO) in West Bengal asked 49 doctors of a state government hospital to join election duty by end of March, before protests by medical authorities prompted the roll back of the order, people familiar with the matter said. According to Election Commission guidelines, government hospital doctors are usually not assigned poll duty in assembly or parliamentary elections because medical staff, including doctors, nurses and ANMs, are categorised under essential services and are generally not requisitioned for election duty. In this case, nearly half of the hospital's administrative staff have been deployed in the West Bengal poll process, said Ramprasad Roy, principal. DEO, Hooghly issued requisition notices to 49 doctors at Prafulla Chandra Sen Government Medical College and Hospital in Arambagh, Hooghly , by start of second week this month, deputing them as presiding officers at polling booths. The list included assistant professors and specialist doctors from key departments. HT has seen the order. Khursheed Ali Qadri, the District Magistrate also serves as the DEO. College principal Ramprasad Roy said he formally opposed the move. "Deploying this many doctors simultaneously will directly affect the OPD and other critical functions of the hospital." "Multiple written representations were submitted to district authorities seeking exemption, but it was only after sustained resistance that the DEO agreed to withdraw the deployment of doctors. However, the hospital's administrative staff continue to remain on election duty," Roy added. "In this case, the matter has been handled at the DEO and CEO levels, and the ECI headquarters has not received any update on it," the same senior ECI official quoted told reporters....