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A conception of booth-level officers connected Saturday (November 15, 2025) raised concerns with expanding enactment unit successful airy of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of West Bengal’s electoral rolls, and demanded an hold of the enumeration signifier and assistance with online information entry.
“We submitted a missive to the State’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal seeking his involution with the tremendous unit we person been moving nether for the past 10 days. He has assured america that helium volition bash the needful to code our concerns and volition pass with the Election Commission of India regarding immoderate of our demands, if necessary,” Swapan Mondal, General Secretary of Votekormi And BLO Aikya Mancha told The Hindu.
The demands enactment guardant by a conception of BLOs see an hold of the timespan of the enumeration phase, the engagement of information introduction operators for assistance, an enactment for BLOs to edit immoderate incorrect accusation collected, among others.
“Frequent alteration of directives make disorder not lone among BLOs but besides among electors. Clear and compact guidelines should beryllium issued immediately,” work 1 of the demands submitted by the Votekormi And BLO Aikya Mancha.
Additionally connected Saturday (November 15, 2025), a conception of BLOs successful Siliguri and Howrah staged agitations to protestation against the ‘unmanageable workload’, 11 days since the enumeration signifier began connected November 4. It is slated to reason connected December 4.
In this signifier successful the SIR process, booth-level officers appointed by the ECI for each polling presumption are expected to administer enumeration forms among electors, cod them, and digitise the information connected the BLO app. Earlier, BLOs had raised questions connected however they would transportation retired their SIR duties alongside their responsibilities astatine their workplace. For context, astir BLOs successful West Bengal were selected from among existing authorities employees, particularly teachers.
In the agitations successful Howrah and Siliguri, BLOs raised objections with the task of online information introduction aft enumeration forms are filled up and submitted by electors.
“We are moving respective hours a time successful our accustomed jobs, and afterwards to implicit distributing and collecting enumeration forms arsenic soon arsenic possible. Uploading information is different clip and labour-intensive task. Our elemental request to the ECI is to prosecute information introduction operators for this purpose,” a disgruntled BLO said.
She added that respective BLOs are besides not equipped with the skills for integer information entry, and that digitising each signifier requires a sizeable magnitude of time.
According to the CEO’s office, grooming programmes are being conducted crossed the State to usher BLOs with the digitisation of filled-up enumeration forms. Over 80,000 BLOs are carrying retired duties successful the SIR of the State’s electoral rolls.
Review meetings continue
Meanwhile, connected Saturday (November 15, 2025), CEO Mr. Agarwal on with further CEOs, lawman CEOs, associated CEO and each 26 District Electoral Officers (DEOs) successful a video gathering with Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, reviewed the advancement of SIR successful West Bengal.
According to sources successful the CEO’s office, a high-level ECI delegation including Mr. Bharti is scheduled to scope Kolkata connected November 18 to reappraisal the advancement of ongoing SIR and to be the store connected archetypal level checking of physics voting machines (EVMs). The delegation is apt to reappraisal Kolkata, South 24 Pargana, Nadia, Murshidabad and Malda districts.
A gathering volition besides beryllium held with the DEOs and Electoral Registration Officers of Kolkata North, Kolkata South, and South 24 Parganas connected November 18. The West Bengal CEO volition be the gathering on with different officers, sources said.
