Hyderabad: Throwing norms to the wind in the distribution of enumeration forms during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR), booth-level officers (BLOs) were found operating from ‘camps’ set up at community halls and schools instead of delivering the forms at the addresses of voters during the door-to-door exercise on Sunday.During an on-ground verification by TOI, one such instance came to light at Anjaneya Nagar in Moosapet, under the Kukatpally assembly constituency in Medchal-Malkajgiri district, where four BLOs were distributing enumeration forms from Sitarama Anjaneya Kalyana Mandapam. Electors were called to the venue to collect and fill out the forms. Booth-level agents (BLAs) of political parties, including BJP and BRS, were seen at the camp.In the Charminar assembly constituency, enumeration forms for booth numbers 47 and 48 were reportedly distributed from Arif Function Hall in Qazipura division, while forms for booth numbers 19, 20 and 22 to 26 were allegedly distributed from the residence of an AIMIM leader. In Bahadurpura, BLOs reportedly left enumeration forms at a chicken centre owned by a politician in Chandulal Baradari division. In Karwan, forms of booths 53 to 57 were distributed from a religious place. In Nanal Nagar division, the BLO handling booth numbers 103, 104 and 105 reportedly said he was an employee of the planning department and could not distribute nearly 1,500 forms door-to-door, and would therefore sit at one place and distribute them.When questioned by TOI, Moosapet BLO Shobhan Babu said door-to-door distribution had been carried out during the previous days and that the camp was organised on Sunday to facilitate the process.Chief electoral officer (CEO), Telangana, C Sudharshan Reddy, however, said BLOs were required to visit electors at their homes and could not replace the prescribed process with camps.“The Medchal-Malkajgiri ERO informed me that, after TOI brought the Moosapet incident to the notice of authorities, the BLOs were dispersed and directed to resume door-to-door distribution,” Sudharshan Reddy said.Similar camps were organised in other parts of Hyderabad. In Budvel, enumeration forms were distributed from a zilla parishad high school to electors from several colonies, including Saikrishna Colony, Srikrishna Colony, Green City, New Green City and Bhagavath Nagar.Allegations were levelled that BLAs were distributing enumeration forms in Hyderabad, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Rangareddy districts. The distribution of enumeration forms by BLAs instead of BLOs was also caught on camera in Sivarampally and Hyderguda.Some BLAs present at the Moosapet camp alleged that several BLOs were not adequately trained.Field observations from polling booths in the three urban districts indicated that only a small proportion of households had been covered through home visits. In some booths of Kukatpally, local representatives claimed that around 5% of households were reached.The reported coverage in these areas was low even as the overall distribution of enumeration forms across Telangana stood at around 30% by Saturday.Non-cooperation from some electors and a lack of awareness about the SIR exercise were cited as other difficulties faced by BLOs. Officials and field-level workers found that some residents were unwilling to respond or were not aware of the purpose of the enumeration forms.However, concerns remained that calling electors to camps could leave out those who did not receive information about the venue or were unable to visit it.
