Rajasthan BLOs Protest In Jaipur, Accuse Administration Of Excessive Workload During SIR

Jaipur: Angered by the alleged suicide of BLO Mukesh Kumar Jangid, a candlelight march was held at the Martyr's Memorial in Jaipur on Tuesday, where BLOs targeted the administration for undue stress for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists going on in Rajasthan.

Sharing their plight, a BLO said, "Officials are making us work from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. This is unfair."

While a lady BLO said, “Due to SIR, we have to be in the field from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sometimes people don't open the gate when we go to someone's house at night. It's not easy for women to roam around so late at night.” She demanded to fix working hours for women serving as BLO on SIR.

The state president of the Rajasthan State Employees Federation, Gajendra Singh Rathore, said, “The time schedule for BLOs assigned to duty in Rajasthan is not fixed. The SIR provides a one-month deadline, which is not feasible. Meanwhile, BLOs are being harassed by officials. Election officials have launched a spree of harassment. “

Notably, BLO Mukesh Jangid had committed suicide by jumping in front of a train in Jaipur on Sunday, and the suiside note recovered from the BLO allegedly stated that officials were harassing him with work pressure related to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and threatening to suspend him.

Gajendra Singh Rathore said that this is not just the suicide of an employee but the result of the autocracy of the officials. The federation will continue its fight until action is taken against the responsible.

There are over 52,000 BLOs carrying out the SIR by reaching out to over 5.48 crore voters in the state. As per the official data, Rajasthan stands second in the country after Goa, with 1.65 crore forms having been uploaded in ECInet.

The chief election officer of the state, Naveen Mahajan, has directed the officials to provide extra resources and help to the BLOs for digitization of SIR forms.

Along with this, the Sri Ganganagar administration has started honoring BLOs, supervisors, and volunteers meeting targets in time.