Page 24 - voice-international-oct2022

India

Booth Level Officers: The

Foot-soldiers of Indian Democracy

onducting Elections in the world’s largest The ECI team consisting of officers at
democracy is the mammoth task! It is different levels, work tirelessly towards the
C probably the biggest human exercise after successful conduct of elections. What we see
World War whereby mass movement of people as the culmination of the election process with
and material takes announcement of
place in the shortest results, behind,
span of time. The is the long drawn
Parliamentary Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, but meticulous
Elections in India, and working together is success! preparatory planning
gives the Government and its execution. May
of peoples’ choice, to it be a preparation
nearly one seventh of the authentic and
of the world’s population. Behind this humungous robust Electoral Roll for all eligible voters or process
exercise is the team work! of voting, maintaining the highest level of secrecy
on the polling day, huge efforts take place,
behind, in its successful conduct.
The team of ECI includes the
Commission at the topmost level, reported
by different sets of officers and assisted
by the field machinery. At the grass root
level, is the Booth Level Officer. BLO, is the
field functionary of Election Commission
of India and a very important layer in the
entire election hierarchy. It is the primary
source of information for every voter
across the length and breadth of the
country. Often it is said, BLO is the face
of ECI at the ground level, as it interacts
directly with voters, per se!
Started in 2006, the concept of Booth
Level officer, has been functional and
strengthened over the period, helping ECI
in preparation of the robust electoral rolls.
May it be marking of PwDs on the roll or
registering new voters or changing the
address of existing voters or deletion of
entries of duplicate or dead voters, BLOs
do their work diligently. They inform and
educate voters and also facilitate doorstep

24 | VoICE International | October 2022