Rajasthan has mapped 78 per cent of its voters as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, with more than 9,000 polling booths achieving 100 per cent completion.
The voter mapping process, which began on November 4, is being carried out by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are collecting, verifying and digitising enumeration forms door-to-door across the state.
4.80 cr forms uploaded so far
Chief Election Officer Naveen Mahajan said that in the last nine days, the mapping percentage has increased from 70 per cent to 78 per cent.
“With the mapping of 78 per cent of voters now complete, these individuals will no longer need to submit any documents for verification. The state’s target is to increase this to 85 per cent, meaning that 85 out of every 100 voters will be exempt from submitting additional documents,” he said.
He informed that out of 5.46 crore, 4.80 forms have been uploaded in Election Commission of India-net.
“This is the result of technical efficiency, teamwork and constant monitoring at the district level,” he said in a statement.
Mahajan said BLOs have made significant strides as more than 9,000 polling booths have achieved full completion. Other BLOs have completed between 70 and 95 per cent of their work.
“A total of 2,500 BLOs who met their deadlines have been awarded. Also, 26 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) were honoured for their exceptional work in the SIR process,” he said.
Mahajan acknowledged the critical role of BLOs and described them as the “backbone” of the voter list revision.
“They are the backbone of this work and are provided with human and technical support,” he told PTI.
BLOs’ deaths in Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, two BLOs died recently – one by suicide (Jaipur) and the other due to heart attack (Sawai Madhopur). It was alleged that they had work-related stress.
When asked about these cases, Mahajan said that training and assistance is being provided to BLOs for stress relief.
“We have always believed that BLOs are our biggest foot soldiers, the backbone of SIR in Rajasthan. Therefore, to keep them stress-free, we provided them with training, technical and human support so they do not face any problems,” he said.
“With a few exceptions, we have not received any such complaints related to SIR so far,” he said.
Mahajan said the increased participation of persons with disabilty as BLOs, who had initially been hesitant but later volunteered for the task after receiving encouragement and support from the Election Commission.
“Their involvement is seen as a major positive step in the inclusivity of the voter registration process,” he said.
