Bengal Guv gives 3 suggestions to Trinamool govt to prevent disruption of SIR & ensure BLOs safety

Kolkata, Dec 12 (IANS) West Bengal Governor, C.V. Ananda Bose, on Friday, has given three suggestions to the state government for preventing the disruption of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state and for ensuring the safety of the booth-level officers (BLOs) engaged in the voter revision exercise.

The Governor had, at the same time, reminded the West Bengal government that as per the recent Supreme Court orders, it is the duty of the state government to ensure the safety of the BLOs and to prevent the disruption of the SIR exercise.

In a statement issued from the office of the Governor on Friday afternoon, it has been said that in view of the observation of the apex court reportedly asking the Election Commission of India (ECI) to address the issues, saying that "anarchy cannot be allowed" and that the situation will be taken seriously "if BLOs are threatened or obstructed", the Governor had asked the West Bengal government to put in place the necessary mechanism to ensure that neither the BLOs are 'threatened' nor the crucial SIR process is hampered in any manner.

The first suggestion is that since the BLOs were operating at the grassroots levels, the district administration might be directed to provide them security at the booth level across the villages, towns, and cities.

The second suggestion is that the state government might direct the state police to depute adequate numbers of police personnel across the booth levels to accompany the BLOs on their enumeration drive.

The third and final suggestion is that the state government should provide the BLOs with the necessary basic facilities so that they can discharge their functions seamlessly.

Since the SIR exercise was conducted in West Bengal, there had been several complaints against the Trinamool Congress of unnecessarily creating pressure on the BLOs to conduct the revision exercise as per the whims of the ruling party.

The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhkari, had even accused the district magistrates, as well as the district electoral officers, of putting pressure on the BLOs to operate at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

--IANS

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