SIR in Bengal: BLOs hold protests in Kolkata over three-point demand

Kolkata, Nov 1 A section of the teaching staff in state-run schools in West Bengal, who have been selected as booth-level officers (BLOs) for the special intensive revision (SIR) in the state, on Saturday, held protests in Kolkata over three-point demands for participation in the electoral revision exercise.

The first phase of the three-stage SIR in West Bengal will start from November 4.

The roles of the BLOs are most crucial in the first phase of SIR, considering that in that phase they will be reaching every doorstep with enumeration forms.

The first demand of the protesting BLOs was that there should be a written circular from the either the Election Commission of India (ECI) or from the office of West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) that they will not have to attend their teaching duty while they would be on duty as a BLO and also should be marked as "on-duty" during that period.

"We have only received verbal assurance from the commission in this regard. But we are demanding a proper and official circular either from the commission or from the CEO's office on this count. Otherwise, the risk of deduction of our accumulated leave or even salary will remain," a protesting teacher said.

The second demand is a written assurance from the commission or the CEO's office for provisions of proper security arrangements for the BLOs while they are on SIR-related field duties.

"Already, there are reports of BLOs receiving threats in certain pockets in the state. The CEO's office has only verbally assured us that our security will be the topmost priority for the commission. But that was only a verbal assurance, and we are expecting a written assurance in the matter," another protesting teacher said.

The third and final demand is that there should be two BLOs for those polling booths that have more than 1,200 voters.

"Initially, the commission planned that no booth would have more than 1,200 voters. But there are still certain booths having more than 1,200 voters. So managing such a revision exercise for such booths for a single BLO is not possible," a protester said.

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