SIR: BLOs Strike Hit Progress In Distribution Of ‘Notices’

Hyderabad: A strike by booth level officers (BLOs) in some constituencies by BLOs over ‘non-payment’ of honorarium has hit the ongoing ‘claims and objections’ phase of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral roll.

A majority of BLOs across Kukatpally, Secunderabad Cantonment and adjoining areas have suspended work for the past few days. The primary grievance reportedly is the prolonged delay in the disbursement of their due honorariums. “We did not even get the amount for the work of the caste census. What is the use doing this work now,” said a woman BJP from Kukatpally. “We will not work till we get the amount.”

In Telangana, every BLO covers 930 voters on average. The Hyderabad district has about 4,000 BLOs. According to locals, owing to the strike, notices for verification hearings, including those set for August 26 and 28, and subsequent dates were never served to the affected voters.

“The electoral registration Officer (ERO) for Kukatpally Assembly constituency is unavailable and remains absent from the office. Subordinate election officials and administrative staff express complete inability to take policy or corrective decisions,” said G. Raghavender, Congress Medchal-Malkajgiri district vice-president. “Representations of delegations from local political party leaders, resident associations, and affected voters are being turned away without any resolution or written acknowledgement,” he said.

Secunderabad Cantonment MLA Narayanan Sriganesh has held multiple meetings with BLOs to oversee and accelerate the SIR exercise. During an all-party meeting of EROs, the MLA requested election officials to immediately release pending salary payments and dues owed to the BLOs engaged in election-related duties.

Following complaints landing at CEO’s office, poll officials have asked the BLOs to strictly adhere to the norms. Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudarsan Reddy, at a videoconference on Saturday, asked officials to ensure that every elector on the list was served notice and an acknowledgement obtained. He said the seven-day notice period should be strictly maintained. “BLOs should remind the electors about the hearing date, time and place at least two days in advance,” the official directed.

Sudarsan Reddy also directed the poll officials to ensure wide publicity was given regarding the prescribed documents required to be submitted by the electors. He asked the officials to ensure that a proper schedule was prepared based on the number of hearings required, in consultation with the AEROs and additional AEROs. To ensure proper supervision is in place over the serving of notices and conduct of hearings.

Meanwhile AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in a public appeal urged voters not to panic over receiving verification notices from EROs. Addressing a gathering at the party headquarters in Darussalam, Owaisi sought to allay the fears of voters whose names have appeared under the ‘anomalies’ list of the draft electoral roll released by the ECI.

He said the MIM would provide complete guidance and legal assistance to ensure that names were retained in the final voter list. Owaisi also held that the individuals who have received SIR anomaly notices must take them seriously. They are required to appear before their designated ERO on the specified hearing date and present valid documents from the accepted list.