BMC orders police cases against BLOs skipping SIR duty

Sanjeev DevasiaMumbai: Additional municipal commissioners and additional district election officers of the BMC have directed that police complaints be filed against booth level officers (BLOs) who have not reported for duty under the special intensive revision (SIR) programme of voter lists. The complaints are to be lodged at police stations in the respective jurisdictions.The directions were issued after it was brought to the authorities’ notice that several BLOs appointed for the work had still not reported despite repeated instructions.The SIR exercise is currently underway in the city as per the directives of the Election Commission of India. A review meeting on the progress of the SIR exercise in the city and suburbs was held at the civic headquarters on Thursday.BMC additional commissioner and additional district election officer Vipin Sharma said that mapping, logical discrepancies, and absence of BLOs are extremely sensitive issues in the SIR exercise. He said it is necessary that the entire process be carried out properly within the stipulated timeframe and that there should be no delay or negligence of any kind. Therefore, all electoral registration officers should take serious note of these matters and initiate appropriate action. Training sessions for BLOs will be organised on June 13 and 14, and all electoral registration officers have been directed to ensure their training happens.BMC additional commissioner and additional district election officer Ashwini Joshi said the civic body has appointed 7,300 employees as BLOs for the SIR exercise. In addition,around 1,000 more employees have been deployed.Employees from the GST department, I-T department, the University of Mumbai, private unaided schools, and variousstate govt departments have also been appointed for the exercise. However, it has been observed that a large number of these employees have not reported for duty. Therefore, strict action should be taken against all employees who have failed to report to work, and police cases should be registered against them immediately, Joshi directed.