Bengal: BLOs protest in Siliguri, Howrah against 'unreasonable' EC workload

Kolkata, Nov 15 (PTI) Several block-level officers (BLOs) on Saturday staged protests in Siliguri and Howrah, alleging that the Election Commission (EC) was subjecting them to intense and unreasonable work pressure, including late-night instructions and sudden orders for digital data entry.

The protest at Siliguri’s Dinabandhu Mancha training centre turned chaotic as several BLOs walked out of an ongoing digital data-entry training session, shouting slogans.

The agitators claimed the poll body had “suddenly” directed them to shift to digital data entry and undergo immediate training, which they said was impossible to manage at such short notice.

Many alleged that fresh responsibilities were being added day after day, making the workload unmanageable.

Some claimed they were receiving calls from the Commission "late into the night", disrupting their personal lives.

Similar protests were reported in Howrah.

On Friday, 240 BLOs of Shibpur Assembly constituency were scheduled to undergo data-entry training at a government office on the East-West Bypass in Tikiapara.

They complained that they were being asked to enter data twice, once manually and again digitally, in addition to handling a large volume of forms that had to be submitted to the EC within a short span.

The BLOs also alleged that several older officers were unfamiliar with technology and struggling with the transition.

Saheli Naskar, a teacher and protesting BLO, said, "We have to take classes at school and then rush to finish EC work under pressure. We cannot handle this much load. Now they are forcing us to take digital data-entry training. We will not do digital data entry under such pressure. We are boycotting this work." Another protesting teacher-BLO, Prakash Maji, said, "We are being asked to fill nearly 200 forms both manually and digitally. We cannot take this pressure. If needed, we will submit a deputation to the district magistrate." In Bengal, over 80,000 BLOs have been engaged for house-to-house visits and distribution of enumeration forms (EFs) as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. PTI SCH MNB