Shillong, Aug 6: Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in East Khasi Hills are using election-related excuses to get out of their regular government jobs and the problem is widespread enough for the authorities to crackdown on the practice.
In a notice today, the Deputy Commissioner (Election), who is also the District Election Officer, of East Khasi Hills stated that BLOs appointed by respective Electoral Registration Officers “are staying away from their official duties in their parent department on the pretext of carrying out BLO duties.”
BLOs are to report to their respective offices except when assigned duty by the Electoral Registration Officer with intimation to the Controlling Officer, the notice added.
A BLO is a local government/semi-government official familiar with the local electors and generally a voter in the same polling area who assists in updating the roll using his/her local knowledge.
As such, BLOs are grassroots representatives of the Election Commission of India. This is not a full-time job yet it remains a vital one in the conduct of elections. Each BLO has one or two polling stations under their jurisdiction.
