West Bengal election officials are gearing up to replace Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in more than 2,000 polling booths across various districts. The move comes after they found serious breaches of the Election Commission of India (ECI) rules on appointing these key workers.
Sources close to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Kolkata say the office has already asked District Magistrates—who also serve as District Election Officers—to prepare detailed reports on these issues in the affected areas. Once those reports arrive, replacements will kick off, sticking closely to ECI guidelines for BLO appointments. Officials promise to wrap up the process well before the ECI’s special intensive revision of voter lists starts in the state.
Under ECI rules, which apply uniformly across India, BLO spots should first go to permanent state government employees in Group-C or higher categories, or to teachers in government-run schools. Only if those folks aren’t available can districts turn to contractual state employees—but not without strong justification from the district level and approval from the CEO’s office.
The problem? In these 2,000 booths, districts picked contractual workers even though permanent staff and teachers were right there, ready to step up. Plus, none of those hires got the green light from the CEO’s office, the insider revealed.
This isn’t the first hiccup. Just recently, CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal wrote to the State Education Department, calling out some government school teachers for dodging BLO duties. A Calcutta High Court judge had already ordered them to take on the role, and the CEO’s office warned that those who keep refusing could face disciplinary action soon.
With elections on the horizon in West Bengal, getting BLO appointments right is crucial for smooth voter registration and polling station management. Stay tuned for updates as the replacement process unfolds.
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