No booth-level officer task for MP teachers
Representational Image INDORE: No more elections at the cost of studies - Teachers will no longer go missing from classrooms during poll times. District election office has decided not to engage teachers as booth-level officers (BLO) in the entire election process and instead will rope in Class-III officials working in different departments as replacement.
Teachers will now only be roped in on four days of voting and on counting day in upcoming civic body and panchayat polls, ADM Kailash Wankhede told TOI. "Around 1,100 teachers are assigned job of BLOs while 86 of them are given charge of election supervisor. We have freed teachers from the responsibility of supervisors by replacing them with officials of woman and child development department, agriculture department, co-operative inspectors and other departments," the ADM said. In second phase, teachers assigned as BLOs will now be replaced by anganwadi workers, gram rozgar sahayak and Class-III employees of IMC, IDA and other government departments. "The entire process is meant to free teachers from BLO duty to ensure regular classes are held at government schools," ADM said. Ahead of civic body and panchayat polls, authorities are also planning to remove around 700 polling booths by adjusting electors registered here at nearby voting stations falling within 2km. "There are around 1,000 polling booths that have less than 1500 registered voters," Wankhede said.
It will be ensured that after merger, number of electors at a polling booth does not cross the set limit of 1500 voters.
"As per rules, max 1500 voters can be registered at a polling booth. We are working on merging 700 such booths, where number of electors are 200, 500 or maximum 700 with another voting station falling within 2km. As per instructions, a voter should not travel more than 2km to excise their franchise," he said.
Quality of edu won’t get compromised now
Teachers will now be able to focus on their core job with district election office’s decision of relieving teachers from BLO and supervisory duty. Officials believe that quality of education would go up notches with the move.
According to district programme coordinator (DPC, school education) Akshay Singh Rathore, there are 1638 government-run primary, middle and high secondary schools in district, where there are around 6,000 teachers. “Relieving teachers from duties of BLO and supervisor is a welcome decision as it will help in improving quality of education at government schools,” he said.
Rathore added that there were schools, in which two teachers are taking classes up to 5th and 8th standard. “There were instances, when one of two teachers deployed at a school were assigned election work. This used to hamper students and increase extra burden on the only teacher left at school. The department has started a programme – ‘skill upgradation and quality improvement’ in government schools and with decision, the programme can be implemented in a better way,” he said.
The ADM said that in assigning BLO duty to anganwadi workers, efforts will be made to deploy them near their homes to save time, money and energy.
Polling Booths - Reducing manpower will save Rs 10 Crore
The math
Cost at one booth: Rs 1 lakh
(EVMs and VVPATs, transportation of election materials and polling parties, drinking water, electricity and remuneration to polling party)
700 less booth mean Rs 7cr (700XRs1L) savings
Yearly remuneration by EC to poll staff for 700 booths: Rs 3cr
(Rs 6,000/yearly to BLOs and Rs 2,000/yearly to supervisors)
Total: Rs7cr +Rs3cr= Rs10cr
Polling booths in 2018 assembly polls 3116
In 2019 general elections: 2881
(as told to TOI by ADM Kailash Wankhede)
Queues at booths may get longer
Overcrowding leading to long queues and voters travelling more distance to cast vote can be two major drawbacks of the initiative. Merging booths will also put extra burden on BLOs.
“In new rule, maximum 1500 voters can be accommodated at a polling booth within 2km. We will ensure that these guidelines are not violated,” ADM Kailash Wankhede said. He added that district election office has completed most of its preparations related to polls during assembly and general polls and now, the work to update voters’ list is an only major work left. In 2018 assembly polls, there were 3116 polling booths with 24.80L registered voters. In 2019 general elections, booths were reduced to 2881 but voters increased to 26.05 lakh. In coming polls, an increase of around 1 lakh voters is expected giving rise to apprehensions of overcrowded booths with 700 booths merged.
Teachers will now only be roped in on four days of voting and on counting day in upcoming civic body and panchayat polls, ADM Kailash Wankhede told TOI. "Around 1,100 teachers are assigned job of BLOs while 86 of them are given charge of election supervisor. We have freed teachers from the responsibility of supervisors by replacing them with officials of woman and child development department, agriculture department, co-operative inspectors and other departments," the ADM said. In second phase, teachers assigned as BLOs will now be replaced by anganwadi workers, gram rozgar sahayak and Class-III employees of IMC, IDA and other government departments. "The entire process is meant to free teachers from BLO duty to ensure regular classes are held at government schools," ADM said. Ahead of civic body and panchayat polls, authorities are also planning to remove around 700 polling booths by adjusting electors registered here at nearby voting stations falling within 2km. "There are around 1,000 polling booths that have less than 1500 registered voters," Wankhede said.
It will be ensured that after merger, number of electors at a polling booth does not cross the set limit of 1500 voters.
"As per rules, max 1500 voters can be registered at a polling booth. We are working on merging 700 such booths, where number of electors are 200, 500 or maximum 700 with another voting station falling within 2km. As per instructions, a voter should not travel more than 2km to excise their franchise," he said.
Quality of edu won’t get compromised now
Teachers will now be able to focus on their core job with district election office’s decision of relieving teachers from BLO and supervisory duty. Officials believe that quality of education would go up notches with the move.
According to district programme coordinator (DPC, school education) Akshay Singh Rathore, there are 1638 government-run primary, middle and high secondary schools in district, where there are around 6,000 teachers. “Relieving teachers from duties of BLO and supervisor is a welcome decision as it will help in improving quality of education at government schools,” he said.
Rathore added that there were schools, in which two teachers are taking classes up to 5th and 8th standard. “There were instances, when one of two teachers deployed at a school were assigned election work. This used to hamper students and increase extra burden on the only teacher left at school. The department has started a programme – ‘skill upgradation and quality improvement’ in government schools and with decision, the programme can be implemented in a better way,” he said.
The ADM said that in assigning BLO duty to anganwadi workers, efforts will be made to deploy them near their homes to save time, money and energy.
Polling Booths - Reducing manpower will save Rs 10 Crore
The math
Cost at one booth: Rs 1 lakh
(EVMs and VVPATs, transportation of election materials and polling parties, drinking water, electricity and remuneration to polling party)
700 less booth mean Rs 7cr (700XRs1L) savings
Yearly remuneration by EC to poll staff for 700 booths: Rs 3cr
(Rs 6,000/yearly to BLOs and Rs 2,000/yearly to supervisors)
Total: Rs7cr +Rs3cr= Rs10cr
Polling booths in 2018 assembly polls 3116
In 2019 general elections: 2881
(as told to TOI by ADM Kailash Wankhede)
Queues at booths may get longer
Overcrowding leading to long queues and voters travelling more distance to cast vote can be two major drawbacks of the initiative. Merging booths will also put extra burden on BLOs.
“In new rule, maximum 1500 voters can be accommodated at a polling booth within 2km. We will ensure that these guidelines are not violated,” ADM Kailash Wankhede said. He added that district election office has completed most of its preparations related to polls during assembly and general polls and now, the work to update voters’ list is an only major work left. In 2018 assembly polls, there were 3116 polling booths with 24.80L registered voters. In 2019 general elections, booths were reduced to 2881 but voters increased to 26.05 lakh. In coming polls, an increase of around 1 lakh voters is expected giving rise to apprehensions of overcrowded booths with 700 booths merged.
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