EC Spl Observer pulls up BLO in Bengal for 'slow pace' in uploading enumeration forms

Kolkata, Dec 11 (PTI) With two days to go before the December 11 deadline for submitting the enumeration forms, the Election Commission's Special Observer C Murugan on Tuesday took a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Kolkata to task for the "slow pace in uploading data" in the portal.

During his visit to booths in Topsia and Tiljala areas of the city, the IAS officer found that enumeration data of 105 forms of the total 720 in a booth have not been digitised yet.

"Where are the remaining 105? Why hasn't anything been uploaded to the commission portal yet?" he asked the state government employee before others as the BLO tried to give explanations.

"You are an educated person; how can there be so many goof-ups?" Murugan said to the BLO.

The special observer said there are many booths, but none else faced such issues.

"What's the problem here? Why are you making such mistakes? Clearly, you are not going door-to-door. That's why this is happening," he said.

Murugan announced that he would return to Topsia after December 11 to verify whether the work is completed.

The 2007 batch IAS officer earlier visited booths in Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district.

Murugan, who is overseeing SIR in South 24 Parganas district and Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha seat, examined voter data with Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

His review covered legacy voter lists, including records from 2020, and verification of parent-linkage documents.

The Election Commission has recently strengthened its monitoring mechanism by appointing five senior IAS officers as Special Roll Observers (SROs) for different divisions of West Bengal to supervise the SIR process more closely.

As per the revised schedule, the last date for submitting SIR enumeration forms is December 11, 2025. The draft electoral roll will be published on December 16, 2025, while the final electoral roll is slated for release on February 7, 2026. PTI SUS BSM NN