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Kolkata, Nov 1 (IANS) A section of teaching staff in government schools in West Bengal, who have been selected as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, protested in Kolkata on Saturday with three-point demands for participation in the election revision exercise.
The first phase of the three-phase SIR in West Bengal will begin from November 4.
The role of BLOs is most important in the first phase of SIR, considering that in that phase they will reach every door with the enumeration forms.
The first demand of the protesting BLOs was that there should be a written circular from the Election Commission of India (ECI) or the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal that when they are on duty as BLOs they should not attend to their teaching duty and that they should be marked as “on-duty” during that period.
A protesting teacher said, “We have received only verbal assurance from the Commission in this regard. But we are demanding a proper and official circular from the Commission or the CEO’s office in this regard. Otherwise, there will be a threat of our accumulated leave or even salary cuts.”
The second demand is a written assurance from the Commission or the office of the CEO for the provision of proper security arrangements for the BLOs while on field duty related to SIR.
Another protesting teacher said, “There are already reports of BLOs receiving threats in some parts of the state. The CEO’s office has only verbally assured us that our safety will be the top priority for the commission. But it was only a verbal assurance, and we are expecting a written assurance in this matter.”
The third and final demand is that there should be two BLOs at polling stations where there are more than 1200 voters.
A protester said, “Initially, the Commission had planned that there would not be more than 1,200 voters at any booth. But there are still some booths where there are more than 1,200 voters. So it is not possible for a BLO to manage such a vetting exercise for such booths.”
–IANS
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