Criticizing the Mamata Banerjee-led government, the Election Commission of India (ECI) told the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) that it was “very strange” that the increased honorarium ₹12,000 per annum and more ₹6,000 on SIR approved by ECI for BLO and ERÚ has not yet been disbursed by the State Government.
The commission noted that payments should be made without further delay.
Read also | SIR Phase II: Nationwide protests as work pressure allegedly leads to BLO deaths
“Why is the West Bengal government harassing the BLOs by not releasing their dues? When will they release them?” EC officials told LiveMint.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced a hike in remuneration for Booth Level Officers (BLOs), doubling their salaries from ₹6,000 up to ₹12,000 per election cycle. The revision also increases the salaries of BLO supervisors and increases them from ₹12,000 up to ₹18,000.
“The Electoral Roll System, consisting of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), BLO Supervisors and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) do a lot of hard work and play a key role in preparing impartial and transparent electoral rolls. The Commission has therefore decided to double the annual emoluments of BLO Electoral Roll Preparation and also increased the remuneration of BLO Electoral Roll Preparation.” The EC stated this through a statement.
Meanwhile, an estimated 7.65 lakh enumeration forms have been distributed in West Bengal till Saturday as part of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls that began on November 4, an Election Commission official said.
The poll panel claimed that not a single eligible voter would be left out.
ANI, citing sources, said the Commission issued a detailed, point-by-point refutation of all the “baseless allegations and baseless apprehensions” raised by the AITC delegation.
Read also | SIR in Bengal: TMC questions real purpose of voter revision; cites death of BLO
The European citizens’ initiative emphasized that the ongoing revision of the voter list is being carried out strictly in accordance with the constitutional provisions and the electoral law.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission had written to West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, directing him to ensure the security of booth-level officers (BLOs) during the SIR exercise after receiving reports that there was an “apparent threat” to their security.
This is the EC’s second letter to the state government in three days expressing concern over the security of election officials in West Bengal.
On Wednesday, the EC wrote to Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma over the “serious security breach” in the director general’s office following the BLO section’s agitation against “excessive work pressure”.
The EC insisted that the state must ensure that there is no “perceptible atmosphere of fear, intimidation and undue influence” on field officials and that no unexpected incident takes place at any place.
Read also | Bengali Raj Bhavan renamed, now called Lok Bhavan
More than 80,000 BLOs are currently engaged in the distribution, collection and digitization of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) forms of electoral rolls in the state.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the state administration was involved in tampering with electoral rolls during the ongoing SIR and that senior officials personally intervened to keep ineligible names on the electoral roll, as reported by PTI.
He said the EC should have acted “a little faster” during the ongoing special intensive review (SIR) of electoral rolls.
(With input from agencies)
