Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) handling the field work for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the city are a harassed lot. Most of them are women and teachers.
They say impossible targets have been set for them and that their superiors are mounting pressure on them to achieve the target or face penal action.
The field work for SIR began from November 4 and is to be concluded by December 4. It involves approaching each family in the booth area, handing over enumeration forms to them, getting them filled and uploading the details on a designated app.
The BLOs say that the work of distribution of forms is over and now they are supposed to collect the filled forms and upload the information. They are being asked to collect and upload 100 forms a day. It is an impossible target to achieve, they say, adding that they are unable to feed the data of voters as the server of BLO App is either down or very slow.
At a polling booth in ward no. 37 of the 151 Narela constituency, located in a Railway Colony, the BLO is using the services of a volunteer to cater to the enquiries of the voters visiting the booth, while he himself is out on the field. “I have distributed 98% of the forms and now I am collecting them,” said the BLO Vikram Singh Prajapati.
The BLOs also say that they were asked to push the form from under the door or paste it outside in case a house is locked or if someone other than the voter lives there. “If the form gets blown away by air or someone else takes it away, how will we collect it,” he asks. Around 500 of the 1007 voters at the Railway Colony booth were not found at their addresses.
The BLOs also complain that the women among them are being summoned to meetings that continue up to 10.30 in the night. “Who will be responsible for the security of the women BLOs on their way back home,” asks working state president of Shaskiya Shikshak Sangathan.Upendra Kaushal.
The voters are also running from pillar to post to locate their names in the 2003 voters list. 43-year-old Sardar Singh is a technician at the Railway Coach Factory. He used to reside in the Railway Colony from 1998 to 2008. He then moved to Krishna Nagar. “I have made three rounds of this booth to locate my name in the 2003 list. But I am yet to find it,” he said. Similarly, 60-year-old Rajkumari Yadav who shifted to Dwarika Nagar from Railway Colony about 15 years back was asked to visit the Collectorate to access her 2003 records.
Upendra Kaushal, working state president of Shaskiya Shikshak Sangathan said, "This is a national mission and we all want to work sincerely. But the BLOs are facing immense pressure from officers and voters are not cooperating with them. We don’t want BLOs to commit suicide in Bhopal just as one has done in Datia."
Vinod Sonakia, SDM, Huzur said, "Yes, even if a house is locked or no one lives there, the BLOs are supposed to deliver the enumeration forms."
