State government departments have been asked to depute their employees as and when required for serving as booth level officers (BLO) for election-related functions. Taking note of a certain reluctance in this regard, the Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) has come out with a set of instructions for departments on deputing their employees.
In a circular to heads of government departments issued on Saturday, CEO Sanjay Kaul observed that reluctance on the part of government employees to serve as BLOs was hampering the preparation of the electoral rolls. Some departments were hesitant to even nominate eligible staff for the BLO data bank, the circular said.
Departmental action
It further stated that the employees could attract departmental action for shirking this crucial election-related function. Department heads had been directed to provide a list of names to the Electoral Registration Officers (tahsildars) as and when required.
The BLOs assist the election machinery by collecting field information for the preparation of the electoral rolls. They are usually picked from a data bank of serving employees of the government or the local bodies.
The Election Commission of India is entrusted with the preparation of the electoral rolls and the conduct of elections to the offices of the President, Vice President, Parliament and the State Legislatures under Article 324(1) of the Constitution. Article 324(6) requires the State to make available the staff required for the discharge of these functions.
The Manual on Electoral Roll of the Commission requires that, to the extent possible, a BLO should be an elector in the polling station where he/she is posted. As they only work part-time on election duty, during off-duty hours and holidays, BLOs are normally posted to areas where they live or work.
