143 BLOs face suspension in Bengal for skipping duty: EC

Kolkata: At least 143 Block Level Officers (BLOs) will face suspension and stringent action if they do not join duty by Thursday as instructed by the Election Commission of India (EC), the West Bengal-Chief Electoral Officers' office said.

These BLOs hail from Murshidabad, Coochbehar and Kolkata (North) and are mainly school teachers. Department proceedings will also be initiated against them.

West Bengal chief electoral officer (WB-CEO), Manoj Agarwal, conducted a crucial virtual meeting with District Electoral Officers (DEOs), AEROs and EROs on Wednesday afternoon across West Bengal ahead of the door-to-door house visits of BLOs. Gyanesh Bharti, Deputy Election Commissioner, EC Delhi, was present at the meeting virtually from Delhi. BLOs will start house-to-house visits with the enumeration forms of voters from November 4. If a voter is not at home, the enumeration forms will put in the letter box or kept inside the house. Voters can also download the forms, fill it and complete the process from the West Bengal CEO's website or the EC app from November 4. The poll body said no doc uments will be required by anyone for submitting the signed pre-filled enumerations forms.

The names of those who fill these will be included in the draft roll. If the names are matched with the 2002 Special Intensive Revision (SIR), or the names of father, grandfather or grandmother are found in the BLO app, no documents will be required to be submitted. The BLOs will also distribute Form-6 to those who will be 18 years on January 1, 2026, during the SIR house visits.