A section of booth-level officers on Saturday (November 15, 2025) raised concerns with increasing work pressure in light of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of West Bengal’s electoral rolls, and demanded an extension of the enumeration phase and assistance with online data entry.
“We submitted a letter to the State’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal seeking his intervention with the tremendous pressure we have been working under for the last ten days. He has assured us that he will do the needful to address our concerns and will communicate with the Election Commission of India regarding some of our demands, if necessary,” Swapan Mondal, General Secretary of Votekormi And BLO Aikya Mancha told The Hindu.
The demands put forward by a section of BLOs include an extension of the timespan of the enumeration phase, the engagement of data entry operators for assistance, an option for BLOs to edit any wrong information collected, among others.
“Frequent change of directives create confusion not only among BLOs but also among electors. Clear and compact guidelines should be issued immediately,” read one of the demands submitted by the Votekormi And BLO Aikya Mancha.
Additionally on Saturday (November 15, 2025), a section of BLOs in Siliguri and Howrah staged agitations to protest against the ‘unmanageable workload’, 11 days since the enumeration phase began on November 4. It is slated to conclude on December 4.
