Medinipur: Tensions flared at the Medinipur Sadar BDO office on Thursday afternoon as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) from Medinipur city and Sadar block expressed their frustration over what they called the mounting responsibilities of their role in the exercise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which is being carried out in West Bengal to purify the electoral rolls.
Frustrated by the ‘challenges’ of data entry, distribution, and collection of voter forms, the BLOs submitted a memorandum to BDO Kahekashan Parveen, highlighting multiple grievances.
“I can’t do it anymore…data entry is not possible!” exclaimed several BLOs during the protest.
According to the memorandum, the BLOs raised concerns over the difficulty of handling data entry after completing their schoolwork and taking on BLO responsibilities.
Many admitted they were not familiar with the task, particularly older BLOs who struggle with using Android phones. They expressed apprehension that errors during data entry could result in voters holding them accountable.
BLO Sanjeev Kumar told IANS that they were earlier told to distribute the enumeration forms and collect them. Now they are being asked to carry data entry, which is not possible for them, he said.
“We will not do it, our family life is disturbed due to pressure,” he added.
The memorandum also pointed out the extreme stress involved in distributing and collecting forms within the one-month deadline.
BLOs handling more than 1,200 voters demanded the assignment of assistant BLOs to ease the workload and ensure accuracy in the process.
Moreover, the BLOs requested an extension of the December 4 deadline for submitting and verifying enumeration forms, citing the equal difficulty of checking all the details and receiving forms as the distribution process itself.
Responding to the memorandum, BDO Kahekashan Parveen said, “They had some demands and complaints. I have informed the higher authorities about them. We are looking into the issue of giving assistant BLOs seriously. According to the criteria, they will get assistant BLOs.”
The protest comes at a crucial time as voter registration and verification processes are ongoing under Special Intensive Revision (SIR) across West Bengal.
(IANS)
