Election officials stated that the frequent updates raised concerns over the “functional stability and integrity of the application”.
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India’s (ECI’s) mobile application for Booth-Level Officers (BLO) saw at least 31 new versions since the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) began on October 27 last year across nine states and three Union Territories, as per a report by The New Indian Express.
The SIR has come under constant fire for several reasons including the immense pressure it has placed on BLOs across the states it has been implemented in, with some officials even dying by suicide such as in this incident in West Bengal just last week.
As per the report, which analysed logs (functionality upgrades, changes and fixes) of the BLO app – which served as the primary and only tool for the BLOs to carry out every aspect of the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls – the Android version underwent 31 updates between November 13 (version 8.65) and January 20 (9.10), on an average a new version released every second day. Similarly, the iOS version witnessed 25 new releases between December 2 (version 2.31) and January 22 (2.56).
There were at least four instances of back-to-back releases within 24-48 hours, the report said. An Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) confirmed the regular updates, as per TNIE. These updates were discussed in the head office during meetings with BLOs and Booth-level Agents (BLAs) who are representatives appointed by recognised political parties to assist in the SIR to ensure accurate voters’ lists.
Also read: Supreme Court Questions EC over SIR Notification; Poll Body Defends Citizenship Verification Process
When any BLO or BLA was unable to attend a meeting, the information was conveyed to them by EROs or assistant EROs, TNIE quoted an unnamed official as saying. The official also said that no user-manuals were provided for the updates.
The problems that the BLOs faced included phones freezing because they couldn’t handle the application, which led to loss of data or the BLO having to redo completed work. An IAS officer, who was earlier with Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency, said such updates raised concerns over the “functional stability and integrity of the application,” as per TNIE.
Many officials even mentioned that the ECI did not issue detailed written instructions on the SIR, besides the initial communication sent on October 27, which had a three-page letter, along with a 21-page communication from Bihar SIR and some annexures. This had resulted in heavy reliance on the BLO app, not only to carry out the tasks, but also to understand how the tasks should be done, TNIE reported.
“The options available on the BLO app informed us what is permitted and what is not rather than detailed instructions or training material regarding the process or the use of the app,” the report quotes a district-level official as saying.
The functionality of the app was also “quite complicated” for BLOs since many are not well-educated or acquainted with such apps, and the regular updates made it worse, the report quoted an unnamed Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) from one of the northern districts of TN as saying.
As per a report by The Reporters’ Collective, a district election official said that on each day of the SIR, the BLO app was “populated with new tech protocols and lists”. “It showed ECI had no clear plan while running these algorithmic checks,” the report quoted the unnamed official as saying.
This article went live on January twenty-fourth, two thousand twenty six, at forty minutes past five in the evening.
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