Hyderabad: A call recording is making rounds on social media wherein a person who claimed to be a Booth Level Officer (BLO) shows reluctance to perform the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) mapping process that is going on in Hyderabad, alleging delay in remuneration.
On the call, he alleged that many BLOs are not performing the duty of mapping over remuneration issues.
Though the call recording is unverified and it is not clear whether the person who is making claims is a BLO, officials are yet to respond to the viral recording.
Untrained BLOs performing SIR mapping in Hyderabad
Recently, a video went viral on social media wherein a BLO assigned to polling station number 101 of Chandrayangutta Assembly constituency said that he has no knowledge of the exercise he was meant to conduct.
Across several areas of Hyderabad, BLOs are struggling with basic aspects of the pre-SIR mapping process. Some have been telling residents that family mapping is not possible if a voter is above 40 years of age, which is incorrect.
Others are uncertain about which family relations are permissible for the exercise.
Syed Mushtaq Ahmed, Personal Assistant to Asaduddin Owaisi, flagged a particularly glaring error at multiple awareness camps. He said some BLOs are mapping married women with their fathers-in-law, a combination that is not permitted under the Election Commission of India guidelines.
No response or acknowledgment
Beyond incorrect mapping, residents have raised concerns about BLOs being unreachable. Many are not responding to calls and are delaying the process, they alleged. The absence of any acknowledgment system has added to the anxiety.
Several BLOs have been asking voters to send their details over WhatsApp and treating that as the completion of mapping, leaving residents with no way to verify whether it was done correctly or at all.
Mapping is a pre-SIR exercise currently underway in Hyderabad and other districts of Telangana. Voters whose names appear in the 2002 SIR list can map themselves. Those whose names do not appear can map with eligible relatives.
The ECI has specified exactly six permissible relations for this purpose. They are father, mother, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, paternal grandfather, and paternal grandmother.
