BLOs deny data entry job, seek

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BLOs deny data entry job, seek date extention, EC scrap the idea

A significant portion of the BLO (booth-level officers)s engaged to distribute and collect enumeration forms of the ensuing Special Intensive Revision rolled out by the Election Commission have expressed their disgust about the rising workload and have threatened to quit denying to undertake data entry job that however was quashed by the EC today.

The BLOs those have raised concerns with increasing work pressure in light of the ongoing SIR of West Bengal’s Electoral Rolls, have demanded an extension of the enumeration phase and assistance with online data entry.

“We submitted a letter to the State’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal seeking his intervention with the tremendous pressure we have been working under for the last eleven days. He has assured us that he will do the needful to address our concerns and will communicate with the Election Commission of India regarding some of our demands, if necessary,” Swapan Mondal, General Secretary of Votekormi And BLO Aikya Mancha said today.

The BLOs have alleged that the Election Commission of India was subjecting them to intense an unreasonable work pressure, including late-night instructions and sudden orders for digital data entry.

The BLOs in Howrah, Barrackpore and Siliguri, claimed that the poll body had 'suddenly' directed them to shift to digital data entry and undergo immediate training, which they said was impossible to manage at such short notice. Many of the BLOs have declined to undergo training for digital data entry.

According to BLOs, after distributing and collecting the enumeration forms, it is difficult to make data entry of all enumeration forms on the ECI App. They have also demanded extention of final date of submission of forms beyond 4 December, which, however was quashed by the EC today. The State Election Commission made it clear today that no further extention of date will be allowed in any circumstances.