Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) affiliated BLOs on Monday had hit the streets in Kolkata protesting against the alleged ‘work stress’ over SIR exercise.
Several BLOs got into scuffle with police after they wanted to lock the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in the city.
The BLOs, comprising teachers, assistant teachers and other frontline government employees and government funded agencies, marched from College street in central Calcutta to CEO office under the banner of BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee.
Notably, since the SIR exercise had started in West Bengal three BLOs have died and two out of them have died due to alleged suicide. Incidentally, deaths of BLOs have also been reported from Kerala, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
A protesting BLO in the protest march said that the poll body is making them do two years work in one month.
“SIR exercise is normally done in two years but we have to do it in one month. We are not able to give time to our family and till 2 am we are doing digital entry. This is inhuman,” mentioned the protesting BLOs.
Another government worker who is not a BLO had joined the protest march in solidarity with the ‘work stress’ of the BLO.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written another letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, flagging what she called two ‘disturbing yet urgent developments’ in the ongoing SIR exercise.
In her letter, the Chief Minister claimed that the EC has barred the engagement of contractual data-entry operators and Bangla Sahyata Kendra (BSK) workers for SIR and election-related work.
“When district offices already have a substantial number of competent professionals performing such functions, what necessitates outsourcing through an external agency for a full year?” questioned Mamata.
Mamata also objected to the poll body’s EC’s alleged consideration of setting up polling booths inside private housing complexes.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose had visited Hakimpur in North 24 Parganas at Indo-Bangladesh border and spoke with the local people and also those who have gathered there for the last few days to cross the border as they claimed that they were staying in India ‘illegally’.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari slamming the BLOs protest rally mentioned that the protestors were not BLO but ‘TMC cadres’.
