Ruckus over SIR, BLO upset
It is taking a lot of time to digitize each calculation form.
Maternal records of married women become hindrance in SIR campaign
New Delhi/Bhopal, The Election Commission again made it clear to the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) that the period of the process of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list will not be extended. BLO will have to complete the process of digitization of the filled calculation forms by 25th November. BLOs have become upset due to this. This is because matching of voters with the 2003 voter list during SIR has become a cause of trouble. Not only BLOs but also voters are getting worried regarding SIR.
The Commission also believes that there is a lot of work pressure on BLOs, however, it also said that if the work of digitization of calculation forms is not completed on time, the further process may be affected. It is known that due to work pressure, there are reports of many BLOs becoming unwell and getting injured. A section of BLO is protesting against this. He says that new instructions are being issued by the Election Commission every day. It is taking a lot of time to digitize each calculation form. It has become quite challenging for them to complete the work in such a short time. All these things have been placed before the Election Commission by the District Election Officers but the Commission has made it clear that it is not possible to extend the time limit.
Voters are able to fill only one part of the counting form
In the SIR campaign, voters are able to fill only one out of three parts of the counting form. Voters are not able to understand what information to give. Even BLOs are not able to solve their dilemma. Voters are upset due to not getting the voter list for the year 2003. The calculation form provided by BLO has three parts. Voters are filling the first part easily, but the problem is with the second and third parts. In the second part, information has to be given as per the year 2003, while in the third part, information has to be given for the voters whose names are not there in 2003. Voters are confused due to non-availability of voter list of 2003. He says that he had voted in the last election and has been voting continuously, then why is he being asked to give so much information in the form.
fear of loss of name
People suspect that by filling just one part of the form, their name might be cut off from the list. When asked for voter list of year 2003 from the BLO itself, the BLO says that everything is available online. Voter Hariom says that he has been voting for more than 20 years. There is no voter list of 2003. Therefore there is difficulty in filling the form. It is mandatory to fill date of birth, Aadhaar, mobile, name of parents and spouse in the SIR form. But the biggest problem is faced in the forms of those married women whose names were registered at their maternal address in the voter list of 2003. After marriage, she came to her in-laws’ house, whereas in the old documents, her information is related to her maternal address. BLO explains that for verification one has to find their booth number, assembly and serial number in the voter list of 2003, which is a time-consuming process. Sometimes there is a delay in matching due to the records being in old files.
Frequent amendments in BLO app
BLOs are troubled by the frequent amendments in the app. They have to download a new version of the app every day. The app runs fine for some time, but then its speed becomes very slow. BLOs have to make a lot of effort to verify each voter. On the other hand, reports of officials’ calls and online feeding are being sought again and again.