BLOs protest over pending dues in Hyderabad 'SIR exercise continue'

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s Public Health (PH) workers deployed as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have alleged that they have not received their payments despite working long hours, including overtime and Sundays.

According to the workers, payments meant for BLO duties are released to the GHMC Deputy Commissioners (DCs) concerned, but they claim the remuneration has not reached them. 

They alleged that they have been working for over eight hours a day, besides performing additional overtime duties and working on weekly holidays without receiving any payment or basic facilities required to carry out the electoral exercise. 

A BLO on the condition of anonymity said, “We have been working from morning till late evening every day and even on Sundays to complete the electoral work. Despite putting in overtime, not a single payment has been credited to us. We are only asking for the wages that we have earned.”

In Circle-28 of the Charminar zone alone, around 14



Public Health workers are reportedly engaged in BLO duties. The workers further alleged that several Public Health staff, particularly in the South and Central GHMC zones, have been assigned BLO responsibilities despite lacking the educational qualifications or training required for the work. 

They claimed many of them are not familiar with official electoral procedures and documentation processes. “Most of us are sanitation workers, not trained election staff. We were assigned BLO duties without proper training or support, yet we are expected to handle official electoral work. We have also not been provided the basic facilities required to perform these duties effectively,” said another BLO. 

The workers also alleged that some of them were hired by political leaders and taken to party offices to carry out work of electoral rolls.

The workers have appealed to the authorities to immediately release their pending payments, provide the necessary facilities for BLO duties, and ensure that electoral work is assigned only to suitably trained and qualified personnel.