Kolkata: The glitch on BLO App continued on Friday, hampering digitisation of SIR forms in its last leg. The BLOs have a Dec-4 deadline to complete the work. They complained that their work slowed down since Wednesday afternoon when they began encountering problems using the app. By Friday evening, 87.9% digitisation was over, just a 5% growth compared to 83% digitisation done on Thursday evening.
With the BLO App not functioning properly since Wednesday, only 9.5% of forms were digitised in the past 48 hours. According to EC officials, about 10%-12% forms were being uploaded by BLOs daily in the past few days prior to the glitch on the app.
Following complaints from BLOs, the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO) West Bengal took up the issue with the EC on Thursday to resolve the matter at the earliest. However, many BLOs complained on Friday that they were yet to get rid of the technical issues like a slow server, which resulted in the deceleration of digitisation task at a time when they have been instructed to speed up work.
Sumedha Bhattacharjee, a BLO in the Beadon Street area, said, "The app is very slow and uploading of forms is taking time. Today, things were a little better, but problems are still there. So, the entire process is getting delayed."
Another BLO in the Kasba area said, "We have been asked to complete work on time, but how is it possible when the app is not functioning properly, especially when the deadline is so close?" A BLO in Garfa said, "On Thursday, I could not upload forms as the app was not working. The problem persisted today. I tried to digitise some forms in the afternoon but could not do so. The EC should make the app glitch-free in the last leg."
A senior EC official, however, stated that "they have not received any complaint regarding the app and slow work". "However, there may be minor glitches," he added.
Kinkar Adhikari, Sikshaanuragi Aikya Mancha's general secretary, said, "BLOs are working under pressure to meet deadline, but every day they are dealing with new challenges that the EC should address. They should extend the deadline."