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BLOs protest against sir exercise: BLOs have announced a protest march in Kolkata against the pressure of work in the SIR process in West Bengal. BLO Rights Defense Committee has demanded extension of the deadline from the Election Commission.
BLOs protest against sir exercise: Booth Level Officers (BLOs) engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of the voter list going on in West Bengal have announced to take out a protest march in Kolkata. This demonstration is being organized under the banner of BLO Adhikar Raksha Samiti against excessive work pressure and systemic flaws. The protesters plan to submit a memorandum to the Election Commission. An official of the committee said that since the launch of SIR, BLOs across the state are working under unprecedented and inhuman pressure. He says that the works which normally take more than two years to complete, have been ordered to be completed in a few weeks.
The protest will start from College Square (North Kolkata) and reach the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Central Kolkata. The committee has demanded that the Election Commission should immediately intervene and give relief in the time limit and take other corrective steps. The committee claims that para-teachers, college professors and members of various teachers organizations will also join the march in their support. Another member said that due to constant stress, many BLOs have fallen ill and at least two BLOs have committed suicide. The door-to-door voter verification work started from November 4 and will continue till December 4.
The draft voter list will be published on December 9. The obligation to complete such a huge task in such a short time is weighing heavily on the BLOs. BLO Adhikar Raksha Samiti has warned that if the Election Commission does not extend the deadline and does not address their concerns, they will start continuous agitation. Meanwhile, another organization BLO Ekta Manch has also raised the problems being faced in digitization of enumeration forms and has demanded additional support staff. This is the first major organized protest by BLOs regarding SIR in the state. If the Election Commission does not give any relief in the coming days, the agitation is likely to intensify further.
