KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Friday recommended a three-point proposal to ensure the safety and security of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who are involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
Expressing serious concern over the safety and security of the BLOs, the Lok Bhavan proposed that the Mamata Banerjee government take three protective measures for them.
The Governor urged every district administration to take adequate security measures for BLOs when they visit voters at their doorstep in every booth. The state government will have to make adequate police arrangements at every booth when the BLOs work for the SIR exercise.
Bose also proposed that the state government provide all kinds of safety arrangements for BLOs, who work round-the-clock virtually.
In Bengal, around 39 people, including three BLOs, have died so far due to SIR-related workload and stress and panic triggered by the misplacement of documents required for the exercise.
Expressing strong concern over reports that BLOs and officials engaged in SIR 2.0 are being ‘threatened’ in Bengal, and several other states, the Supreme Court on Tuesday warned the Election Commission that it must flag such incidents or “it will cause anarchy”.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi urged the poll body to take serious note of state governments’ lack of cooperation in the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls that had kicked off from 4 November.
"Bring to our notice instances of lack of cooperation, hindrances to work of BLOs and we will pass appropriate orders," the bench told senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for the national poll body. Dwivedi cautioned that if matters worsened, the EC might be compelled to seek police assistance—even though the police fall under state jurisdiction.
Justice Bagchi, however, reminded that the poll panel cannot take the police under its control until the election process formally begins.