Gurgaon: Booth level officers (BLOs) conducting the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Gurgaon say they are facing rude behaviour and non-cooperation from residents of several housing societies.A few BLOs told TOI that many residents make mistakes while filling enumeration forms, then blame field staff when asked to correct them.“They are more educated than us, yet they vent their anger on us for their own errors,” said a BLO posted on Golf Course Road.Officers said residents often expect frontline staff to resolve every query on the spot. “We are only responsible for distributing forms, collecting them and verifying details. If someone has a query, we have to consult our supervisors. Many residents mistake that for incompetence and become rude,” another BLO said, adding that some residents turn aggressive over even minor delays.Under Election Commission’s SIR exercise, BLOs — most of them anganwadi workers and other non-teaching govt staff carrying out election duties alongside their regular jobs — are required to distribute enumeration forms, collect completed applications and digitise voter details.Officials said the process becomes considerably simpler when residents submit forms online, since the information uploads directly to the system and only needs verification, cutting down on manual data entry. District authorities have repeatedly appealed to residents, particularly in urban housing societies, to use this route. “It will take just a few minutes to complete the process. People can fill the form from the comfort of their home or office,” said SDM Sanjeev Singla.Officials acknowledged that many BLOs initially struggled with the digitisation process and have since deployed additional computer operators to assist with data entry and uploads.Residents, meanwhile, say the assistance on offer remains inadequate. “The BLOs are of little help. They don’t have answers to most queries and end up calling someone else, who again refers them to another person. The entire process becomes confusing,” said Sandeep Yadav, a resident of Sushant Lok.The district administration has set July 14 as the deadline to complete collection and digitisation of voter enumeration forms. Deputy commissioner Uttam Singh said officials have been asked to deploy more operators wherever BLOs face a heavy workload or need technical assistance, to ensure timely uploading of data.Singh urged eligible voters to cooperate with BLOs and submit their forms within the deadline so the roll revision exercise is completed smoothly and accurately.
