Bengaluru: Booth level officers ill trained, says study

Bengaluru: A study conducted by a city based NGO has revealed that booth level officers (BLOs), who play a crucial role in voter participation during elections and in updating voters’ list, are overworked, poorly informed, lack proper training and motivation. Many of them have not even been paid for the last five years!

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy carried out the study in 11 Assembly constituencies in the city and found that each BLO was assigned ‘too many polling parts’, which was against the ECI guidelines.

The contact numbers of many officers were not available. Teachers, private sectors employees, were found to be working as officers, which is against the rules. They have not received sufficient material, stationery and training. The study also found they did not lacked motivation and morale to execute their duties, the report stated.

The report also said many lacked the required ID proofs, which is crucial while conducting surveys. Nearly 106 BLOs have reportedly never performed a door-to-door survey.

Of the 11 Assembly constituencies surveyed, information was available for only 2,996 polling parts, out of 3,077. Among BLOs 726 had no designation. The NGO contacted 2,563 BLOs on phone, but only 27 per cent of them answered. No information was available for 81 BLOs. Nearly 18 per cent did not have ID card, 25 per cent did not have appointment letter and 49 per cent had no handbook.