Election Commission doubles pay for Booth-Level Officers, introduces incentive for SIR exercises

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Saturday announced doubling the annual remuneration for Booth Level Officers (BLOs) from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 and a special incentive of Rs 6,000 for those who conducted the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The last revision of remuneration was in 2015. An honorarium for Electoral Registration Officers (Rs 30,000) and Assistant EROs (Rs 25,000) have also been announced for the first time.

The incentive to BLOs for the revision of electoral rolls has been increased from Rs 1,000 in 2015 to Rs 2,000 now. A BLO Supervisor's honorarium has been increased from Rs 12,000 to Rs 18,000.

In addition, the EC has also approved a special incentive of Rs 6,000 for BLOs for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercises, starting from Bihar.

"Pure electoral rolls are the bedrock of democracy. The electoral roll machinery, consisting of EROs, Assistant EROs, BLO Supervisors and BLOs do a lot of hard work and play a pivotal role in preparation of impartial and transparent electoral rolls," the EC said in a statement, announcing the new remuneration structure.

"The Commission has therefore decided to double the annual remuneration for BLOs and also enhanced the remuneration of BLO Supervisors involved in the preparation and revision of electoral rolls. The last such revision was done in 2015. Also, honorarium has been provided for EROs and AEROs for the first time," it said.

This decision reflects the EC's commitment to adequately compensate election personnel who work tirelessly at the field level to maintain accurate electoral rolls, assist voters, and strengthen the electoral process, the statement added.

A BLO is a local government or semi-government official who is familiar with the local electors and generally a voter in the same polling area, who assists in updating electoral rolls using his local knowledge. The BLO is a representative of the EC at the grass-roots level, and plays a pivotal role in the process of roll revision and collecting actual field information with regard to the roll corresponding to the polling area assigned to them.

An Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), who is an officer of State Government, normally of Tehsildar level or an officer of equivalent status, prepares and revises the electoral roll for each constituency.