BLO on Duty: Big News for BLO Teachers! ‘On Duty’ Till 31st January, Know the Complete Task List and Rules

BLO on Duty: The office of the Chief Electoral Officer of the West Bengal government has sent a very important directive to the DIs (District Inspectors) of primary and secondary schools across the state. In this mail dated 12th November 2025, the responsibilities and work timeline for Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 have been clearly specified. According to this guideline, BLOs have been appointed for full-time election duty for a specific period.

BLO’s Full-Time ‘On Duty’ Status

The directive clearly states that from 4th November 2025 to 1st December 2025, BLOs will be considered ‘full-time’ personnel for conducting House-to-House Visits. During this period, they will not be required to be present in their schools, and their absence will be treated as ‘On Duty’. Their school attendance during this time will be considered ‘Zero Time’ as they will be completely engaged in election-related work. They may also be required to work beyond office hours as needed.

Detailed List of Tasks and Responsibilities

For the Special Intensive Revision 2026, the work of BLOs has been divided into two main phases. Each phase involves multiple crucial responsibilities that must be completed within a specific timeline.

1. House to House Enumeration (4th November – 9th December)

Here is a list of tasks that BLOs must perform during this phase:

• Collect enumeration forms from the office and distribute them to every voter.
• Assist in the process of voter data linking.
• Visit a voter’s house at least three times, if necessary.
• Issue notices to absentee voters.
• Collect the filled-in enumeration forms from the voters.
• Maintain a manual record or ledger of all distributed and collected forms.
• Regularly update all information on the BLO App.
• Create an accurate record of Absent, Shifted, and Duplicate (ASD) voters.
• Map electors and match them with their families in the BLO app.
• As a crucial and time-consuming task, take photos of each enumeration form and upload them to the BLO app.
• Collect and match Form 6 (for new voters) and their declarations.

2. Claims & Objections and Hearing Phase (9th December – 31st January)

• Claim and Objection Period (9th December – 8th January): After the publication of the draft roll, BLOs must maintain regular contact with voters to handle matters related to claims and objections.
• Hearing and Verification (9th December – 31st January): During this period, they may be required to be present at the office for hearings and verification processes as needed.

Review and Challenges

The scope of work outlined in the directive is so vast that it can be described as a ‘mountain of work’. It is extremely difficult for a single BLO to complete this huge amount of work, especially in areas with more than 1200 voters. There is a demand to double the manpower for time-consuming tasks like uploading photos of forms to the app. Furthermore, frequent changes in instructions from the Election Commission are causing problems for both BLOs and the general public. As per this directive, BLOs are set to have an extremely busy schedule until 31st January 2026.