Kolkata: The office of the chief electoral officer of Bengal wrote to the chief election commissioner, requesting a temporary exemption for secondary and higher secondary school teachers, working as BLOs, from their SIR duties during Madhyamik exams, slated for Feb 2 to Feb 12, 2026.
"During the time of the exams, the SIR exercise will enter its last leg as the final voter list is scheduled to be published on Feb 14. The Bengal CEO sent a written request to the Chief election commissioner to ensure that neither the teachers nor students face any problem during Madhyamik," an official from the Bengal CEO's office said.
The SIR exercise started in Bengal on Nov 4. The EC appointed 80,681 BLOs, who distributed, collected and uploaded voters' enumeration forms and are now attending hearings of the voters in their respective booths. The hearing process will continue till Feb 7, 2026.
BLOs will also be available in the polling booths immediately to facilitate the submission of forms for the inclusion of names on voters' list, as well as claims and objections, and for shifting residence/correction of entries in the existing rolls. BLOs will sit in their respective polling stations for two hours on any three weekdays and for at least four hours on holidays until Jan 15, 2026, the last date to receive claims and objections for SIR.
"The BLOs' duties at booth-level camps will not clash with Madhyamik. We also feel that a significant number of hearings will not be left out after Feb 1. If the situation demands, we will appoint BLOs from the reserves, replacing the secondary and higher secondary school teachers after Jan 31," another official said.
Out of the total 80,681 BLOs, only a small percentage are secondary and higher secondary school teachers.