In the narrow, dusty lanes of Tughlaqpur village and the sleek clubhouses of high-rise apartments in Greater Noida, a crucial democratic exercise is unfolding. Since November 4, government school teachers doubling as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been at the forefront of the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Their mission is simple yet daunting: distribute and collect enumeration forms, a task bombarded with questions and logistical nightmares.
Navigating Village Lanes with Patience
Primary school teacher Suman Lata's day begins at 8:30 AM. After marking attendance at her school, she walks through Tughlaqpur village, a black bag stamped with "Bharat Nirvachan Aayog Vishesh Pragaadh Punarikshan" slung over her shoulder. Her goal is to collect the 625 forms she had distributed earlier, forms that most residents find confusing.
"I have to help them trace and match their and their parents' details with the voters' list from 2003," Suman explained. This historical data, central to the form, is a memory test few can pass. The ECI has set January 1, 2026 as the qualifying date, with a deadline to collect filled forms by December 4. A draft electoral roll will be published on December 9.
With the help of a local anganwadi worker who knows the families, Suman navigates homes with unclear addresses. In one house, 30-year-old Aman Kaur struggles with the form. "No, no, you do not have to write in this column," Suman chides gently, applying whitener. She patiently explains that Aman must prove a parent or grandparent voted there in the past.
The scene repeats in every home. Suman answers questions, corrects mistakes, and guides residents. Her mobile phone constantly rings with more queries—a panic over mismatched Aadhaar and Voter ID birth dates, a daughter-in-law confusing in-laws' details with parents'. When Kuldeep Singh admits he lost both form copies, Suman urges him to search harder before moving on.
High-Rise Confusion and Digital Hurdles
At 10 AM, in the plush clubhouse of Purvanchal Royal City society, a different BLO faces a similar chorus of confusion. Khushboo Rai, also a government school teacher and a society resident, sits at a table surrounded by residents clutching old documents. Her phone buzzes incessantly. "Clubhouse mein hoon, paanch baje tak rahoongi (I am in the clubhouse, will be here until 5 PM)," she tells one caller.
Despite the urban setting, the challenges are parallel. The residents are often migrants, retirees, and tenants with frequently changed addresses and hazy memories of voting in 2003. "We are facing a lot of difficulties in finding people's details…many don't have anything from the last SIR," said Khushboo, frustrated by an unresponsive Electoral Search website. "Woh (Election Commission) site hi nahi khul rahi hai… check kaise karein? (The site isn't opening... how do we check?)"
Budh Pal, 59, hadn't voted for years and had lived across Delhi-NCR. His documents were from 2008, not 2003. Retired civil servant Aryama Sanyal's voter ID was from Jaipur. Khushboo explained she must first get her name deleted there. Another resident, Sanjay Verma, 43, had no details to supply. "I didn't vote in 2003. And who remembers their parents' details these days?" he asked.
The Weight of Democratic Duty
For these BLOs, the work is overwhelming. Pritam Singh, a BLO appointed by the Greater Noida Authority assisting Khushboo, said they visit societies daily. "Sometimes we have to ring the bell 10 times before someone opens the door. But we wait... koi kachcha kaam nahin karna hai (we don't want to do shoddy work)," he stated, echoing Suman Lata's own motto.
Khushboo's home has become an election office. "An entire room in my home is filled with documents. Keeping these papers safely is a big responsibility," she shared. She has sorted forms into neat piles: those with unfound online data, those marked for deletion, and those yet to respond. Juggling this duty with her teaching job, she even refused an additional school hour. "I am already overworked," she said, worrying about her daughter's board exams. As a queue formed and her phone rang, she continued her work, a testament to the immense human effort behind updating India's voter list.
