Booth-level officers (BLOs) — foot soldiers of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls that started on the ground in Bengal on Tuesday — faced hiccups in various pockets of the state.
The problems were varied, providing a glimpse into Bengal’s diversity — from people refusing to accept enumeration forms to parents locking up teachers so that they can’t perform BLO duties and instead teach their children.
‘Won’t take forms’
In erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves in Cooch Behar district, which turned into Indian villages in July 2015, the residents refused to accept the SIR forms delivered by BLOs.
In areas such as Poaturkuthi, which is in Dinhata-II block, the BLOs went door to door but failed to hand over a single form.
Residents argued that the SIR form asks for information from 2002, a time when they were Bangladeshi citizens. “We became Indian citizens only in 2015, following the land boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh. But there is no space in the form for it. So we refused the forms,” said Jinat Ali, a resident of Poaturkuthi.
Rahmat Ali of Karala, another former enclave, echoed Ali.
“I got my voter card in 2016. But this SIR form demands 11 documents, and we don’t have any of these issued before 2015. The election commission should come up with a separate process and forms for people like us,” he said.
Joint BDO Mayukh Banerjee (left) requests villagers to release the teachers locked inside the school premises in Gaighata, North 24-Parganas, so that they can work as BLOs. Picture by Sudip Deb
Bipul Modak, a BLO who went to Poaturkuthi on Tuesday, admitted that former enclave residents refused the form. “We went to every door according to EC instructions, but no one accepted the forms. The matter has been reported to higher authorities,” he said.
The LBA between India and Bangladesh was implemented in 2015. Under this historic exchange, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves became part of India, while 111 Indian enclaves went to Bangladesh. The residents of these 51 enclaves became Indian citizens and were provided with Aadhaar, voter IDs, PAN and other documents.
Teachers locked up
In Gaighata of North 24-Parganas, villagers locked up three teachers of the Chandigarh Special Cadre Free Primary School, including the teacher-in-charge, Dhiman Chandra Roy, on Tuesday on learning they had been assigned BLO duty.
“If teachers are engaged in SIR, it will affect our children’s studies. The school has only three teachers, and all three have been appointed as BLOs, which means no classes for our children,” said a villager. “We want them to work only as teachers.”
The teachers were locked up for almost an hour, prompting joint BDO Mayukh Banerjee to rush to the school and speak to the agitated parents. He assured them that the issue would be taken up with higher authorities and alternative arrangements would be made to ensure that children’s studies did not suffer. Finally, the villagers freed the teachers.
Confused teachers
On the first day of SIR, a section of schoolteachers, who have been appointed as BLOs, were perplexed as to whether they should attend the school or go out to the booths they have been assigned to conduct the SIR.
“School authorities are ready to release us, but no order has reached from the administration so that our school duties can be waived. We really don’t know what to do,” said Kuntal Choudhury, a teacher of Netaji BSFP School in Siliguri.
His colleague said they were getting calls from voters, but could move out only after school hours. “We are worried as exams are ahead and we need to finish the syllabus on time. But there is a stipulated time for the SIR as well. We don’t know what to do,”
she said.
Delay in forms
Enumeration forms did not arrive on time in some places of Jalpaiguri and South Dinajpur, causing delays in the door-to-door voter verification.
Lalit Sharma, a BLO of Madhya Santinagar area in Siliguri, which is under the Jalpaiguri district, said he was at home, waiting for the forms. “Until the forms reach us, how can we go out? Some voters have called me, but I could not tell them whether I can at all visit their homes today (Tuesday). The supervisor has assured me that the forms will reach soon,” said Sharma.
In Balurghat, most BLOs could start their field work after noon as the forms reached them late. Some received only 100 or 150 forms, way fewer than the number of voters.
Amit Saha, a BLO of ward 23 of Balurghat, said: “I received forms late, around 2pm, and got only 100, which caused inconvenience.”
Abhijit Ghosh and Bishnu Sen, BLAs of the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, respectively, in Balurghat, said they did not get official identity cards. “We have informed the administration and our party leadership. Having ID cards will make our work much easier,” said Ghosh.