Jamshedpur/Ranchi: For many booth level officers (BLOs), the voter enumeration exercise has turned into an unexpected lesson in human behaviour. On some doorsteps, they are greeted with steaming cups of tea, sweets and even invitations to stay back for lunch or dinner. At others, they are met with folded arms, wary questions and fears that the documents they seek could end up in the hands of cyber fraudsters.“There are families who insist that I sit down first, offer tea and snacks, and thank us for coming. It really motivates us after walking from one house to another in the heat,” said BLO Sony Shukla. “But at the very next house, someone may ask whether I am collecting Aadhaar or other documents for cybercriminals. We patiently explain that we are govt-appointed BLOs and show our identity cards before people become comfortable,” Shukla added.Bela Toppo, another BLO in Ranchi, said that a voter treated her to fish curry for lunch.Another BLO said, “Some crack jokes and ask if we will have dinner with them. Others refuse to even open the gate initially because they have become extremely cautious after hearing about online fraud.”Residents said the fear is genuine. “Every day we hear about cyber scams. Initially we were hesitant to hand over any details. Only after verifying the BLO’s identity did we complete the formalities,” said Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Sakchi in Jamshedpur.However, others chose to cooperate readily. “BLOs are on govt duty. Offering them tea is the least we can do after they spend hours visiting every household,” said Mango resident Sunita Devi.East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Rajiv Ranjan told TOI that while the distribution of forms across the district would be completed on Monday, timely submission by voters is now critical.“In rural areas, the work is progressing faster because the ratio of govt officials to voters is much better. In urban areas, most BLOs are teachers with limited manpower, and voters are comparatively more complacent. Many people are under the misconception that July 29 is the last date to submit filled-up forms. By July 29, BLOs have to complete uploading every form online. Uploading a single form takes more than five minutes, and each BLO has nearly 1,400 forms to upload. I appeal to voters to hand over their completed forms the very next day after receiving them instead of waiting till the last week,” he said.Ranchi DC Manjunath Bhajantri made a special appeal to voters to cooperate when BLOs visit their homes to assist in filling up the enumeration form. “Only by providing correct and complete information can an elector’s name get recorded in the voter list without any discrepancies,” he said.State chief electoral officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said BLOs have delivered enumeration forms to 100% of voters in five assembly constituencies — Chatra, Majhgaon, Manoharpur, Chakradharpur, Gumla and Lohardaga.
A BLO hands over an enumeration form to Jugsalai MLA Mangal Kalindi
A BLO hands over an enumeration form to Jamshedpur West MLA Saryu Roy
