SC tells States to replace distressed BLOs, deploy more staff for SIR work

Key Points

1. Supreme Court directs State governments to address the issues faced by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
2. The Election Commission (EC) is conducting the second phase of the SIR across nine States and three Union Territories.
3. The court refused to halt the SIR process despite reports of distress among BLOs.
4. States are permitted to depute additional employees to support BLOs and reduce their workload.
5. The EC claims that BLOs have sufficient time to complete enumeration work, with each booth limited to 1200 electors and 37 days for completion.
6. Kapil Sibal, representing petitioners, questioned the necessity of completing the SIR in just two months.
7. Gopal Sankaranarayanan highlighted that BLOs face threats of imprisonment and disciplinary actions for not meeting targets.
8. The court emphasized that BLOs are State employees, and States are responsible for managing their deployment.