CEC praises Jharkhand BLOs, expresses confidence of error free work ahead of state SIR

Dumka: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday hailed booth-level officers (BLOs) as the “backbone” for a credible voter list, stressing that a clean electoral roll forms the foundation of democracy.Addressing BLOs at Mohnanand Plus Two School, in Tapovan (Deoghar) on the last day of his two-day visit, Kumar asserted that no eligible Indian citizen should be excluded from the electoral roll.The CEO further said that intensive revision of electoral rolls was underway in phases nationwide, with formal announcement of the same in Jharkhand still awaited."The preparedness and clarity shown by the state's BLOs indicate that full voter inclusion will be effectively achieved here as and when SIR gets rolled out," Kumar said hinting that the formal announcement for process in the state would soon be made. He expressed confidence in a smooth and transparent revision process of electoral roll for Jharkhand once announced.Kumar also referred to the move of the Election Commission to issue identity cards to the BLOs and commended the BLOs' dedication and credibility got boosted during door-to-door verifications.BLOs from various polling stations presented their views on key aspects like voter mapping, age-based categorisation, form procedures, house numbering, and special provisions for women voters linked to parental families.Seemingly impressed by their clarity, the CEC announced that Deoghar BLOs would soon attend specialised training at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi.Briefly talking to media, Kumar mentioned that during his visit since Sunday, he got an opportunity to offer prayers at Baba Baidyanathdham and Baba Basukinath temples in Deoghar and Dumka districts respectively.Notably, in run up to SIR in Jharkhand, state’s chief electoral officer K Ravi Kumar has initiated parental mapping exercise since Nov last year as part of which current voter lists is being mapped with SIR data of 2003. Talking to TOI in mid-Dec, he had said that more than 60% work out of about 2.65 crore voters was over.Today's programme was also attended by Kumar, Deoghar deputy commissioner Naman Priyesh Lakra, and other senior officials.