The Election Commission was staring at a shortfall of polling officials following Monday's Calcutta High Court verdict that cancelled the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching employees at state-aided schools as most of them were tagged in poll duties.

"It is yet to be ascertained how many of them were assigned polling responsibilities but initial information from district-level officials suggest most were engaged in election duties…. The district authorities have been asked to look for their replacements from the reserve pool," said a senior official in the EC.

According to sources, more than 15,000 school teachers, whose appointments were cancelled on Monday, had already undergone the training for poll duty. They were teachers of senior schools (between Class IX and Class XII) and such teachers are usually deputed as the presiding officers, who lead the election process at the booth.

"Practically speaking, it is tough for the district authorities to replace these senior polling officers," said a source.

A district magistrate explained that he had already requisitioned almost all high school teachers in his district and as they were usually appointed as presiding officers, he would hardly have options to fill those vacancies.

Officials said they were worried about the second phase of the election on April 26 when Darjeeling, Raiganj and Balurghat would go to the polls.

The sources said a total of 3.20 lakh government employees, including teachers, were tagged in poll duties. Another 35,000 government employees have been kept in reserve to conduct polls at 80,000-odd booths across the state.

A source in the EC said the situation could change if the Supreme Court stayed the verdict for a few weeks. The school service commission had already said it would move the Supreme Court.