Citizens get last-min calls from BLOs for SIR docu resubmission

Kolkata: In the past 24 hours, several electors across the city got fresh calls from booth-level officers (BLOs) for resubmission of documents needed for the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. This baffled both electors and BLOs, as the final electoral roll is scheduled to be released on Saturday.One BLO from a part under Ward 1 said, "I received an instruction through the BLO app to call progeny voters and ask for submission of their documents. When I called them, several questioned why their documents were being sought as the hearing process was over. We are bound by instructions from the ECI and are living in uncertainty about how many more instructions will come before the final roll is published."
Shrabanti Tahabider, another BLO in north Kolkata, said, "I called a total 216 voters and asked them to submit documents following a recent instruction on the BLO app."Meanwhile, BLOs found deletion of electors' names in the draft roll uploaded on the BLO app. A BLO in Tollygunge said, "After the hearing, the app became non-functional. Today I found the electoral roll was back on the app, and the names of those electors who failed to produce the EC-specified documents during the hearing were deleted.""In my part number, no elector faced any document issue, but the names of some electors are not there in the electoral roll that was updated on the app today. I flagged the issue to my supervisor," said a BLO in Maniktala.Many voters in the Cossipore-Belgachhia assembly constituency received fresh calls from BLOs asking them to submit documents. Several voters standing in a queue on SP Road in Cossipore said they received calls on Wednesday and were asked to submit documents on Thursday afternoon.A resident of the Tala area was surprised on Thursday morning when her BLO asked her to submit a copy of her Aadhaar card for address verification. "Earlier, my name was enrolled in Maniktala as a voter. My card was shifted to my present address at Tala, where I live now. During the hearing, I produced all my documents, including address proof. Again, the BLO called me today and asked for documents. It is a strange call, as the hearing was over and the electoral roll is going to be released on Saturday," said the woman.Priyanka Si, an elector from the Cossipore area, said, "My name was not there in the 2002 electoral roll because I was not eligible to vote at that time. I got a call about that, so I came to submit documents." Pampa Paul, a resident of the same constituency, said, "Even though I attended the hearing, I was still asked to submit some more documents, which I came to submit today."Another elector who requested anonymity said, "I have an important engagement that I have to cancel because of this call. The public hearing is over, so what is the point of such harassment again?"