Kolkata, Oct 5 (IANS) A team of the Election Commission of India, led by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, will review next week the complaints regarding widespread irregularities in the selection of West Bengal government employees as booth-level officers (BLOs), despite them not meeting the selection criteria mandated by the ECI.

The ECI team will also review the role of district-level electoral officials in clearing the faulty selection of state government employees, insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said.

The review on this specific issue is a part of the overall review for the forthcoming special intensive revision in West Bengal.

The review will be conducted at a meeting chaired by Bharti, which will bring together all top officials from the CEO’s office. The meeting will be attended virtually by the District Magistrates (District Election Officers) and their subordinate district-level electoral officials.

The main complaint in BLO selection is that for about 2,000 booths in some districts, contractual state government employees were selected as the BLOs without the necessary concurrence from the CEO’s office, which was in direct violation of the ECI-mandated norms for the selection.

As per ECI guidelines, permanent state government employees in the category of Group-C or above and teaching staff in state-run schools should be considered for appointing BLOs.

In case adequate numbers are not available from the Group-C category permanent state government employees and teachers in state-run schools, then only contractual state government employees could be considered for appointment as BLOs, and that too after concurrence from the CEO’s office.

The Deputy CEO, accompanied by ECI’s Director General (Information Technology) and other senior officials of the Commission, will be reaching Kolkata on the night of October 7, and on the next day, they will conduct the crucial meeting. On October 9, the team of senior ECI officials is expected to visit certain districts and interact directly with the district-level electoral officials.

Recently, West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal had sent a letter to the State Education Department complaining about the reluctance among a section of teaching staff in state-run schools to accept BLO duty, despite a clear instruction from a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court.

The CEO’s office had also cautioned of disciplinary action against such teachers if they do not join BLO duties after a certain period of time.

–IANS

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