Kolkata: Booth-level officers taking part in West Bengal’s ongoing Special Summary Revision (SIR) exercise clashed with police on Monday as they attempted to enter the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) during a protest against what they described as unbearable workload, officials said.
Members of the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee marched from College Square carrying locks and fetters, symbolically intending to shut the main entrance of the building housing the CEO’s office in central Kolkata. Police stopped them at the barricades, leading to a brief scuffle.
Protesting BLOs shouted slogans against the Election Commission and accused the poll body of ignoring repeated complaints about “intense and inhuman work pressure” during the SIR process. One member claimed that tasks normally requiring more than two years were now expected to be completed within a few weeks.
The committee also alleged that several BLOs had fallen ill because of the workload, and two had died by suicide due to stress.
The group had previously announced that para-teachers, college professors and teachers from multiple organisations would support the demonstration to demand immediate intervention by the Election Commission.
House-to-house verification under the SIR, which began on November 4, will continue until December 4. The draft electoral rolls are scheduled for release on December 9. The BLOs warned that they would escalate their protests if deadlines were not extended or corrective steps were not taken.
Meanwhile, another organisation, BLO Oikya Mancha, raised concerns over the digitisation of enumeration forms and asked for additional support staff. It had submitted a formal deputation to authorities on November 22.
