New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought a report from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) regarding the deaths of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in various states in recent days during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The states and union territories where the poll panel is conducting SIR include Andaman and Nicobar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Lakshadweep, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry.
According to reports, several BLOs engaged in the second phase of SIR have reportedly died due to workload stress caused by the ongoing exercise in various states, including West Bengal, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh. According to the ECI, a total of 532,828 BLOs are engaged in the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls across nine states and three union territories.
Who are BLOs?
A BLO is a local government or semi-government official who knows local voters well and is usually a voter in the same polling area. This person uses their local knowledge to help update the voter roll. BLOs serve as representatives of the polling panel at the grassroots level, playing a key role in the roll update process and collecting accurate field information related to the voter roll for their assigned polling area.
According to Section 13B (2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, BLOs are composed of officials of government, semi-government, or local bodies. A BLO is tasked with overseeing a portion of the voter roll.
BLOs assist eligible citizens in registering to vote. They submit various forms for adding, deleting, and correcting entries in the voter list, conduct physical verification, and submit reports to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).
BLOs, in consultation with local residents and representatives of political parties, identify dead, displaced, or duplicate voters to be removed from the voter list, following due legal procedures.
CEOs are investigating the matter
Referring to the alleged deaths of BLOs in various states, allegedly due to workload stress related to the duties associated with the SIR of the electoral roll, ECI sources told ETV Bharat, “The ECI has asked the respective CEOs to look into the matter.”
They added, “The CEOs are investigating the matter. Reports are being sought from the District Election Officers (DEOs).” Sources revealed that after the entire process is completed, the CEOs will submit their respective state reports to the poll panel. They added, “The ECI will thoroughly look into the matter.” ECI sources also clearly stated that the poll panel is ready to provide additional assistance to BLOs to facilitate their duties.
Notably, Kerala CEO Ratan Kelkar, taking note of a recent audio message circulating on social media in which a BLO expressed the stress of performing SIR duties related to voter list compilation, spoke with the BLOs to address their grievances.
During the conversation, Antony Varghese expressed his desire to continue his duties as a BLO. According to the poll panel, he was given the option to relinquish his SIR responsibilities if he wished. The CEO assured him that he would be provided with all necessary assistance to facilitate his duties. To further strengthen Varghese’s support system, the district administration has deployed additional personnel to assist him in carrying out SIR activities. Opposition parties express displeasure over the alleged deaths of BLOs
Opposition parties have criticized the ECI over this matter. Expressing concern over the alleged deaths of BLOs, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, wrote in a social media post, “Under the guise of SIR, chaos has been unleashed across the country. The result is that 16 BLOs have lost their lives in three weeks. Heart attacks, stress, suicide—SIR is not a reform, it is an imposed atrocity.”
West Bengal Chief Minister and All India Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee had previously written in a post on X, “Precious lives are being lost due to the unplanned, relentless workload of the so-called Election Commission of India. A process that previously took three years is now being completed in two months just before elections to appease political masters, putting inhumane pressure on BLOs.” She also appealed to the poll panel to immediately conduct SIR of voter rolls in the state.
