Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Rajasthan: ‘Most submit blank forms… It takes up most of my time’

On cue, a resident of Naman Residency, one of the five high-rises assigned to her, calls for help with his form. Patiently, Laxmi says, “First check your name in the 2002 voter list, then fill the SIR form.”

She also places calls requesting that residents of the five high-rises collect in their building lobbies so that she can answer their queries together.

People often come to her with unfilled applications, she says. “We first distributed the forms to electors, and they were supposed to fill it up and take our help if needed. But most of them don’t fill up the forms, and I have to sit with them and guide them. That takes up most of my time.”

The last intensive revision of the electoral roll in Rajasthan was conducted in 2002, and that is the reference point for this exercise, with voters required to check their or their family members’ names against that list.

Laxmi says she had shared the 2002 list with electors via WhatsApp, after she had distributed the forms. Most of the electors in her list figure on the 2002 list, making it easier for her compared to other BLOs, who have the onus of doing the matching. If the applicants have failed to match, or not understood how to do it, Laxmi helps them search with their address (if it has been the same since 2002) or their EPIC number.

An angry elector calls up Laxmi to complain: “Where are you? I have not received any form till now. How am I supposed to get my verification done?” Laxmi puts him on speaker as she sifts through the papers with her. Finding the relevant document, she tells him she visited his house a day earlier, but there was no one at home. The man calls her “irresponsible”, claiming he never got his form, before hanging up.

“What am I supposed to do? People think they can talk to us as they please, without realising how overworked we are,” Laxmi says.

She usually leaves on her rounds in the afternoon and again late evenings, when people are most likely to be home.

It’s easier in rural areas, she says, where people assemble easily. But there are other challenges. “A lot of them need help with filling forms or using smartphones. So, I have to fill every form fully… In urban areas, with some guidance, people usually fill the forms themselves.”

Noon to 5 pm

In the lobby of Naman Residency, as she helps residents fill up forms and matches their names against the 2002 list, the server of the BLO app keeps crashing every 15 minutes. Laxmi has to call up an acquaintance to complain, before it starts functioning.

Such delays mean that several hours later, Laxmi has only covered two buildings and completed 38 forms. She has also found that 19 names on her list no longer live in Rajasthan — the EC has cited weeding out names such as these as the reason for the SIR.

Laxmi says they have been told to submit forms even for those who live here but may have their votes registered in other booths. That has added to her work.

It’s close to 3 pm now, well past her lunch time. These days, the 54-year-old usually grabs something to eat at the homes of a few acquaintances. It helps that she has been a BLO since 2018 and knows most people here.

As she exits the building, Laxmi again goes through the names in her list and places calls —some are out of town and others are unreachable. She says some of them had assured her they would submit the forms soon but have not been responding now.

The deadline is looming: she has to upload details of all the 958 electors in her booth by December 4. Admitting that the days are long, she says, “We have to complete at least 50 forms per day, which is difficult. I don’t remember when I went to the market last since November 4 (when she began the BLO work). Now, the supervisor will start calling us to know how many forms I filled.”

One of the latest messages on the group is about a show cause notice to a BLO for “not working efficiently”.

5 pm to 8 pm

As the sun goes down, Laxmi heads home. She lives in a fourth-floor flat with her husband and mother-in-law. Her son and daughter, both married and employed in the IT sector, live in Bengaluru. Laxmi’s family doesn’t expect her to help with making dinner these days, so she gets down to work as soon she gets home.

Her husband Sudheer Gupta, who works for a private firm, says he is mostly done by 6 pm and accompanies his wife if she has to head out again in the evening.

The eight-seater dining table is almost entirely covered with electoral forms. The calls on Laxmi’s phone are still on, and this time an elderly woman wants her to talk to her daughter about help with the form.

Laxmi estimates that she must have completed 65% of her work, which includes the 5%-7% of rejected forms, which she will have to be resubmit.

Half an hour later, after tea and biscuits, Laxmi sets off again. Darkness settles rapidly, but she must submit the forms she has filled to her supervisor, a fellow employee at the Government Upper Primary School, Dholai, where she works.

The supervisor, helped by others, uploads the forms that Laxmi and the other BLOs have submitted.

Narayan Sisodia, spokesperson of the Rajasthan Teachers’ and Panchayati Raj Employees’ Union, talks about the long hours required of the BLOs. Calling it “excessive pressure”, he accuses the Bhajan Lal Sharma government of competing to outshine its counterparts in finishing the SIR process.

As of November 22, Rajasthan was among the top performers with 60.54% of its SIR forms digitised, according to data shared by the Election Commission.

8 pm to …

Laxmi gets back home between 7 and 8 pm. After dinner, the calls begin again. “Be ready with the forms… I’ll be there tomorrow morning,” she tells one of them.