The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) politburo member Varla Ramaiah wrote a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer and Ex-Officio Principal Secretary on Monday requesting him to direct the District Collectors and District Election Officers to replace the existing BLOs only in the case of a “genuine need and necessity” with village/ward secretariat employees.
Mr. Ramaiah, referring to the instructions issued by the CEO, said it was unjustified to remove Anganwadi teachers/workers as booth level officers (BLOs) and appointing village/ward secretariat employees in their place. As per the commission vide its letter no. 23/BLO/2010-ERS dated 03.11.2010, it had only recommended a suggestive list of categories of government/semi government employees that could be appointed as BLOs. “As Anganwadi teachers/workers have been working as BLOs since long they are experienced and have discharged their duties efficiently in the past. We came to know that in some villages or municipalities all the existing BLOs were replaced with village/ward secretariat employees,” he said.
Such a step would create problems as new staff would lack experience, he said and urged that all the Collectors and District Election Officers might be directed accordingly.
