SIR: Lagging in digitisation work, 181 BLOs in Noida to get termination notice | Noida News

Noida: District magistrate and district election officer Medha Roopam has ordered termination notices to be issued to 181 booth-level officers (BLOs) from anganwadi cadre after their digitisation work was found to be below 5% in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.Calling the performance of several anganwadi BLOs “unacceptable”, she asked the district programme officer to issue termination notices to 181 workers for persistent negligence. She also directed that adverse entries and departmental action be taken against child development project officers supervising them.After physically collecting enumeration forms and verifying them, BLOs need to upload the final names online to digitise the data.Basic education officer has also been asked to initiate inquiries against 191 assistant teachers and 113 shiksha mitras who have digitised less than 15% of their assigned work.Roopam issued the orders during a review meeting on Friday, where she assessed the distribution, collection and digitisation of voter enumeration forms ahead of the 2026 assembly roll revision.She instructed officials with less than 5% progress to immediately complete their targets. “If someone is yet to start digitisation, they will lose a day’s salary. Those who deliberately delay or obstruct the exercise will face FIRs,” she warned. Roopam emphasised that door-to-door visits, timely form collection and daily presence at polling stations are core responsibilities. “Your presence at the booth is non-negotiable. Voters should never have to search for the BLO,” she said.She directed electoral registration officers and assistant EROs to physically inspect every polling station to ensure BLOs are present and actively working. Department heads were asked to ensure staff deployed for the SIR complete their tasks on time and maintain transparency.FIR against 60 BLOsThe district administration has registered FIRs against 60 BLOs and seven supervisors for negligence, non-compliance and ignoring official directions during the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The largest action came from the Sadar subdivision, where the SDM, also the electoral registration officer for Dadri, lodged an FIR at Ecotech police station against 32 BLOs and one supervisor for persistent negligence and disobedience.In Noida, FIRs were filed against 11 BLOs and six supervisors. In Jewar, FIRs were against 17 BLOs for failing to perform even basic field tasks, including distributing and collecting forms, despite repeated instructions. Under Section 32, breach of official duty during electoral roll preparation can attract imprisonment of three months to two years, along with fines.