The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma, citing security breach at the office of West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal in Kolkata.
The incident pertains to the protest march by booth level officers (BLOs) on Tuesday, against the workload of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and apprehensions following the death of 51-year-old BLO Rinku Tarafdar in Nadia district, who died by suicide on November 22. This is the third BLO death in the state.
“The existing security in the office of the CEO appeared to be inadequate to handle the situation, which could lead to a threat to the safety and security of the Chief Electoral Officer, Additional Chief Electoral Officers, Joint Chief Electoral Officers, Deputy Chief Electoral Officers and other officers and staff working in the office of the Chief Electoral Office,” said Sujeet Kumar Misra, Secretary, ECI, in the letter.
“The Commission has taken a serious view of the incident and directs that the police authorities should take all possible measures to ensure the safety and security of officers and staff posted in the office of the CEO, at their residences and while commuting to and fro. The Commission further directs that adequate security classification shall be done on account of sensitivity involved due to SIR activities and forthcoming elections in the state and ensure that no untoward incident occurs again,” the letter further stated.
ECI has also asked the Kolkata Police Commissioner for an action report to be submitted within 48 hours of receipt of the letter.
The BLOs marched under the banner of ‘BLO Adhikar Rakha Committee’ which the CEO said he has not heard of. Other government teachers too joined the protest during which the protestors attempted to break the lock and barge into the EC premises. There was tight police security, and all entrances to the building were locked from the inside. Finally, 13 protestors were allowed to go to the office of the CEO on Monday, but were not permitted to meet him as he was busy. Other senior election officials were ready to meet the protesters; however, they declined.
A huge police force was deployed even on Tuesday. The agitation was called off later that evening after meeting with the CEO Manoj Agarwal. However, protestors say they will continue the demonstration from outside the building till December 4, which is the last day for submission of the enumeration forms and completion of the SIR exercise.
What prompted BLOs to protest?
BLOs are worried as digitisation of numeration forms takes time, and with several forms to be digitised, many are working late into the night. Some are falling ill because of the workload, which includes going from door to door, distributing and collecting the forms after explaining the process to voters.
BLOs also face problems as they are unable to communicate with voters. In the case of the second BLO death in Jalpaiguri district, 48-year-old Shantimuni Ekka, who was unable to speak, read or write Bengali, had to undertake the online data entry process of Bengali enumeration forms. Her family claims this made her work tougher, and her repeated pleas to be relieved as a BLO were turned down. Like Tarafdar, Ekka was found hanging in her house. Both deaths took place within a week, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to write to Chief Election Commissioner Gyaneshwar Kumar to take corrective measures and provide adequate training to BLOs and to stop the SIR process.
The first death, on November 8, was of Namita Hansda in East Burdwan district, who collapsed on duty after suffering a brain stroke. She was taken to the hospital, but died later that night. Her husband blamed the EC for her death due to work pressure.
Many have reportedly fallen ill due to the work pressure and tight deadlines.
EC argues that many of the protestors were not BLOs, and there are also those who have completed their SIR process before time and have got back to their duty as government teachers. Facing flak over the SIR, EC has felicitated select BLOs in various districts. While the deadline of completing the SIR process will not be extended as communicated by the West Bengal CEO, BLOs who are still troubled by the demands of the SIR process will have to to EC guidelines.
Meanwhile, a ten-member delegation of Trinamool Congress(TMC) MPs led by Derek O’Brien, will hold a meeting with ECI Delhi on Friday. The apex poll body agreed to meet the party over their concerns regarding the SIR. TMC has been protesting against the electoral revision exercise right from the beginning.
