SIR: BLO duties extended till final rolls, teachers say students affected, cannot continue
Government school teachers in Karnataka are protesting the extension of their election-related duties as Booth Level Officers until October. They argue that the continued absence of teachers is severely disrupting classroom instruction and school operations.
Why it matters
The conflict highlights the tension between administrative election requirements and the quality of public education in India.
Pointing out that thousands of schools across Karnataka were running without a single teacher, while thousands of others had only one teacher, government school teachers have requested the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer and District Election Officers (DEOs) not to involve them in the remaining phases of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
This comes as an order issued by an Additional District Election Officer (ADEO) on Wednesday (August 19) directing all Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and BLO Supervisors deployed for SIR to continue with the exercise until the final electoral rolls are published on October 27. Similar orders were received by BLOs across the State via DEOs and ADEOs.
Teachers argued that the continued deployment would only further disturb school functioning, which had already been severely affected during the enumeration phase.
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