'14th addition to the app': Confusion among BLOs after they get one more EC notice on ‘photo quality’; training, clarity missing

KOLKATA: The Election Commission's directive regarding checking the quality of electors' photos triggered confusion among booth-level officers on Friday. They stated that they interpreted the meaning of the new feature in their own ways since there was no explanation from the EC about what they meant by "quality check".

On Friday, two new options— ‘Discrepancy in mapping' and ‘Quality check of elector photo' — were added to the BLO App. Ahead of the hearing of around 94 lakh voters with logical discrepancies across the state, the first option was introduced to make BLOs rectify mapping errors relating to progeny links, gender, or age mismatches. The problem arose with the second option, as the EC did not clarify to the BLOs the cases where they would need to upload the photos of electors afresh.
The BLOs stated that most of the photos they uploaded during the enumeration period turned out to be hazy in the EC's system. "I received the EC's directive and found the new feature added to the app. I cannot make out what the quality check of photo means. Even my ERO couldn't explain it to me. I did the enumeration of 600 electors and most photos became blurred in the system. If I am to upload fresh photos, it will be time-consuming," said a BLO, requesting anonymity.

"Will they keep introducing new features until the final SIR rolls are released? This is the 14th addition to the app, and we did not have any training to use the app. Moreover, the frequent tweaks of norms or additions are confusing us," she said.

When the SIR exercise was rolled out, photos were not mandatory. "When the EC made photos mandatory, the SIR process was already midway. Some electors refused to attach photographs at that time. Although the number is very small, I now have to revisit them to collect their photographs and upload them again," said a BLO from central Kolkata.

Sumedha Bhattacharya, a BLO in Shyampukur, said, "As far as I can remember, all the electors in my area submitted photographs, but while uploading them on the BLO app, some appeared hazy, so I need to upload fresh ones. I will check the forms I have, and if I find any photos that are very old or unclear, I will call the electors to get a clearer or more recent picture for upload."

Arup Nag, a BLO in Kasba, stated, "Some electors in my area came to attach a recent photograph because the photo on their voter ID card was very old and unclear. I told them to fill out Form 8 to make this correction. The new feature is a relief for them."