NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Saturday doubled the remuneration for Booth Level Officers (BLOs) from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 per election cycle. The decision also includes an increase in pay for BLO supervisors, whose remuneration has been raised from Rs 12,000 to Rs 18,000.“The electoral roll machinery, consisting of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), BLO Supervisors and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) do a lot of hard work and play a pivotal role in preparation of impartial and transparent electoral rolls. The Commission has therefore decided to double the annual remuneration for BLOs and also enhanced the remuneration of BLO Supervisors involved in the preparation and revision of electoral rolls,” the EC said through a statement. The last such revision was done in 2015, the EC noted.Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formed a seven-member national coordination team to oversee the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and identify any discrepancies, as well as address issues faced by BLOs nationwide. The committee will be led by BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, with members Dr K Laxman, K. Annamalai, Om Prakash Dhankhar, Alka Gurjar, Dr Anirban Ganguly, and Jamyang Tsering Namgyal.The committee has commenced field visits as part of its review. On Saturday, Dr Anirban Ganguly visited Nadia district in West Bengal, his home state, to assess the progress of the revision exercise. The panel will continue monitoring West Bengal, where elections are scheduled next year, and the BJP aims to challenge three-term Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress until December 1. The review of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has already been completed.The move comes amid reports of several BLOs committing suicide or dying under unnatural circumstances during the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in 12 states, including Kerala, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh.Last week, BLOs clashed with police while attempting to enter the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office in Kolkata during a protest over alleged excessive work pressure. According to a senior official, members of the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee held a procession from College Square in north Kolkata, carrying locks and fetters to symbolically seal the main entrance of the building housing the CEO’s office.
