Kolkata, November 1: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday began the training program for booth level officers (BLOs) for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in West Bengal.
The training is ongoing in various districts and will be completed by November 3. The SIR process will then begin from November 4 to December 4.
The training was conducted in batches for BLOs from Bhawanipur, Rasbihari, Ballygunge, Tollygunge, Kasba, Jadavpur, Metiabruz, Behala East, and Behala West assembly constituencies at Nazrul Mancha in South Kolkata.
The ECI has issued 16-point guidelines for BLOs and made available a new mobile app to facilitate field operations. During the training, BLOs were provided with special kits and necessary documents. During the designated period, BLOs will go door-to-door to verify voters and fill out forms.
During this time, they will be responsible for adding new voters, removing names of deceased or transferred voters, and updating documents. However, some BLOs have expressed concerns about security. One BLO involved in the training said, “We work at the grassroots level, so security concerns are natural.”
Similarly, another BLO said that while previous elections have seen risky incidents, we must still perform our duties according to the rules without any fear.