Delhi SIR: Door-to-door visits pit BLOs against hostile residents, waterlogged lanes

New Delhi, July 10 (PTI) From hostile residents and shifting households to flooded lanes and tight deadlines, booth-level officers (BLOs) engaged in Special Intensive Revision of Delhi electoral rolls say the exercise has become a daily test of patience and endurance. For most BLOs, the work begins well before they knock on the first door. Armed with stacks of enumeration forms, registers and their mobile phones, they spend entire days going door-to-door, distributing forms, verifying details, and later returning to collect the filled documents. Once fieldwork ends, another round of data entry and digitisation awaits. Many of these BLOs are government school teachers, anganwadi workers and other government employees assigned election duties alongside or in place of their regular work. "The exercise is time-bound. We have been given only a few days to distribute forms and digitise records. There is pressure to move quickly because so many voters have to be covered," said Abhishek, a BLO posted in Okhla. Besides the workload, BLOs said they frequently encounter rude behaviour from residents. Recalling an incident from Thursday evening, Abhishek said he had been distributing enumeration forms when a resident, who had accepted the form, refused to sign the second copy. "I requested him to sign because we have to maintain our records. He said he was having dinner and asked me to come later. I then asked him to return the form so that I could give it to him later and get the second form signed at the same time. Instead, he started shouting at me, saying I was wasting his time," he said. Several BLOs said repeated visits have become routine because many residents are away at work during the day. "Very often, nobody is home during the first visit. We have to return in the evening or on another day. Sometimes one address requires three or four visits before the verification is completed," said Nitin, a BLO from Mayur Vihar. He, too, said residents often refuse to cooperate despite repeated explanations. "There are days when people refuse to cooperate or even speak politely. We cannot argue. We simply move on and return later because our responsibility is to ensure every eligible voter is covered," he said. The demanding nature of the exercise came into focus after a teacher engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise attempted to take his own life by jumping from the Rani Jhansi Flyover on Wednesday afternoon. Sources said the 45-year-old mathematics teacher, Anand Saroha, is undergoing treatment at a hospital for multiple injuries, including fractures in both arms that require surgery. Preliminary investigation suggests he had been under severe mental distress related to his professional responsibilities. BLOs said the exercise becomes even more difficult in unauthorised colonies and government quarters, where residents frequently shift and addresses often change. Locating houses, particularly in unauthorised colonies, is among the biggest challenges, several BLOs said. Junaid, a BLO working in northeast Delhi, said house numbers in many colonies no longer match the present layout after repeated subdivisions and redevelopment. "One address can have more than 10 houses carrying the same number because larger plots were divided over the years. Recently, I spent almost an hour searching for a single address. People kept sending me from one lane to another until finally a shopkeeper identified the family," he said. In some localities, the same house may have voters assigned to different BLOs, he added. Bankey Lal, a BLO posted in Geeta Colony, said duplicate voter registrations also lead to unpleasant interactions. "There are cases where elderly people are registered both in Delhi and their native villages. We advise them to keep their registration where they ordinarily reside, but some become aggressive and question us. We only explain the rules and submit our verification," he said. For many BLOs, the work continues long after they return home. Manish, a teacher in his 50s serving as a BLO, said digitisation has been one of the most difficult parts of the exercise. "Everything has to be uploaded digitally. Learning the app, scanning documents and entering every detail correctly takes me much longer. Whenever there's a technical issue, I often seek help from my son or younger colleagues," he said. Some teacher-BLOs also claimed there is confusion over relieving orders, with some school authorities insisting on formal communication from their parent departments before allowing them to report for election duty. The monsoon has exacerbated difficulties. Nazia, an anganwadi worker serving as a BLO in Jasola, said carrying paper forms through rain-soaked localities is a challenge. "The rains have made everything harder. We carry bundles of forms, registers and our phones from one lane to another while trying to keep the papers dry. In many localities, there is waterlogging up to the ankle or even the knee, but every household still has to be covered because the schedule doesn't change," she said. More than one crore of Delhi's 1.45 crore electors have been provided enumeration forms under the SIR exercise, while over 5.75 lakh completed forms have been digitised so far, according to official data released Thursday. Under the exercise, BLOs are distributing two copies of the enumeration form to every elector. One copy is retained by the voter as acknowledgement, while the other is submitted to the BLO after being filled. The Election Commission has said voters can also submit their forms online. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published October 7. PTI MSJ ARB ARB