Panchkula: The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has sparked complaints from Panchkula residents, who allege that the mandated door-to-door voter verification is, in many cases, being reduced to a “come-to-the-BLO” exercise.Several residents claim that while booth level officers (BLOs) distributed verification forms and promised to return for collection and assistance, many never revisited households, forcing voters to seek them out for help with the process.The alleged lapse, residents say, is particularly inconvenient for senior and super senior citizens, who may find it difficult to travel for verification or assistance.“It’s happening everywhere. While distributing forms they say we will come for collection of the forms. But they don’t even come for help in filling up the form. We have to visit them whenever we need assistance,” said Megha Bansal, a resident of Sector 18 and a member of the Sahyog group.Rajesh Seth, a resident of Sector 16 and another Sahyog member, said, “For the SIR exercise, door-to-door verification seems to have become ‘come-to-the-BLO’ verification. Some BLOs ask citizens to visit them instead of conducting household verification. This is especially inconvenient for senior and super senior citizens.”Another resident echoed similar concerns, alleging that BLOs often fail to return after distributing forms, leaving voters to complete the process on their own.Residents have urged election authorities to ensure that BLOs follow the prescribed household verification procedure, particularly for elderly voters and people with mobility issues. They contend that proper door-to-door verification would make the exercise more accessible and reduce inconvenience.The Special Intensive Revision aims to update electoral rolls and ensure the accuracy of voter records. Booth Level Officers are tasked with carrying out field-level verification of electors as part of the exercise.
