The Election Commission on Wednesday introduced a new option in the mobile application for booth-level officers (BLOs), allowing them to edit enumeration forms to review the data they entered or unmap any suspicious electors.

Earlier, they had no such option, and there was no way to revisit their entries in the mobile application once they had submitted them online.

BLOs said that the new option to edit submitted enumeration forms brought them immense relief, as there had been complaints that many were either under pressure from local political parties or had inadvertently entered incorrect information about electors.

"We had been demanding the reopening of such an option since the SIR began. We had also requested the unlocking of the editing option for the submitted electoral roll. Now it has become easier for BLOs to revisit their work and rectify it if they had been forced or had inadvertently entered incorrect information," said Swapan Mandal, general secretary of Votekarmi and BLO Aikya Mancha — a platform working for the welfare of BLOs.

Mandal said that, in many cases, BLOs were being pressured by local political party leaders to enter wrong or incorrect data. The organisation had been receiving such complaints from the field.

"Although BLOs are not supposed to listen to any party leaders, the ground situation often forces them to heed the politicians to avoid any untoward incident. We had been receiving complaints from BLOs who were concerned that they might face legal action because of these incorrect entries. Now they are relieved," Mandal added.

Multiple BLOs said the problem was particularly significant in areas where there was only one BLA and no representatives of Opposition parties. In such areas, political parties — mainly the ruling dispensation — tend to exert hegemony.

"On the ground, if I refuse, it becomes difficult for me to conduct my work. In some cases, there were doubts, but we were forced to show how the data was being uploaded. Now we can return home, edit those incorrect entries, and submit the corrected forms to the EC portal," one BLO said.

However, another BLO pointed out that most of them belong to the area they work in. So even if they edit the names privately, once the draft roll is published, they may still face consequences.

"I would rather request the EC to ensure our security so that we can conduct a fair enumeration process. Otherwise, in remote areas, many BLOs are scared of consequences," the BLO said.

A BLO working in Birbhum said that although she was not forced by anyone to enter false data in the mobile application, some mistakes had occurred.

"It was mental agony for me, as I knew some data had been entered incorrectly. Now I will get the chance to reopen those forms and correct them," she said.