Hyderabad, August 30: A strike by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) over pending honorarium payments has disrupted the distribution of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) notices in parts of Hyderabad.
BLOs in Kukatpally and Secunderabad Cantonment have reportedly been on strike for nearly a week, affecting the process of serving notices to voters marked for verification under the SIR exercise.
The issue has emerged as election officials work to ensure that voters scheduled to appear for hearings receive notices on time.
BLO Strike Delays SIR Notices to Hyderabad Voters
G Pallavi, a BLO from Secunderabad Cantonment, said several officers had stopped work over non-payment of honorarium.
“We have been on strike for the past five days due to non-payment of honorarium,” Pallavi said. She added that she had received only one instalment of ₹5,500 so far.
Farzana Begum, a BLO from Pension Line in Bowenpally, claimed that officials had earlier indicated that the pending honorarium would be paid by August 3.
However, she said the payment had still not been received.
Despite the payment issue, some BLOs have continued their duties to prevent voters from being affected by delays.
BLO Sadia Begum said officials in the Bowenpally division were continuing the work despite not receiving their payments. She noted that voters were scheduled to attend hearings between August 28 and 31.
19 lakh voters marked for anomalies
Hyderabad has around 4,000 BLOs involved in the electoral revision exercise.
However, SIR notices have reportedly not been served to all 19 lakh voters who have been marked for anomalies.
Some voters scheduled to attend hearings between August 26 and 28 reportedly did not receive the notices, raising concerns over their ability to participate in the verification process.
The issue has also drawn the attention of local elected representatives.
Secunderabad Cantonment MLA Narayanan Sriganesh held meetings with BLOs and urged them to speed up the SIR process. He also requested Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to release the pending remuneration.
Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy held a video conference with officials on August 28.
Reddy directed officials to ensure that all voters required to attend hearings are served notices. He also reminded BLOs of their responsibility to inform voters about the hearings.
The election authorities are now expected to expedite notice distribution and address the pending honorarium issue as the SIR verification process continues across Hyderabad.
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