Role of 'higher-up’ questioned in SIR-passport controversy

MARGAO
The controversy over a Booth Level Officer (BLO) allegedly insisting on a passport document during the ongoing SIR exercise in Salcete refused to die down, with Citizens for Democracy urging the South Goa District Electoral Officer to divest the duties of the higher-up who had instructed the BLO to demand passport documents from voters.
South Goa District Electoral Officer, Egna Cleetus, IAS, however, has maintained that the BLO did not insist on the passport document during the enumeration, saying the passport issue cropped up after the voter produced an invalid passport.
In his petition, Citizens for Democracy Convenor Elvis Gomes raised apprehensions that there is every possibility of voters being deleted from the electoral rolls and that the SIR will be reduced to a "farce played on voters" in Goa.
Drawing the attention of the District Electoral Officer to the case of a BLO demanding a copy of the voter’s passport while collecting the enumeration form in Margao under her jurisdiction, Gomes said the concerned BLO in Part No. 42 of Margao, when asked, had informed that her ‘higher-up’ had instructed her to do so to check citizenship.
“If this is a line of action pursued, one can imagine the outcome of this SIR. This serious misconduct, where the neutrality of so-called ‘higher-ups’ is apparently compromised, calls for immediate investigation as it goes contrary to ECI guidelines that no document is required to be submitted”, he said.
He demanded before the District Electoral Officer that, in the interim, all duties of the ‘higher-up’ be divested, and that all such officials who have similarly instructed BLOs should also be divested of their duties and disciplinary action initiated against them.
District Electoral Officer clarifies
Meanwhile, South Goa District Electoral Officer, Egna Cleetus, IAS, said that the BLO did not insist on a passport document during enumeration, stressing that the issue only arose after the voter produced an invalid passport.
The District Electoral Officer added that the question of BLOs insisting on documents will arise only after December 5, when voters will be required to produce any of the documents prescribed by the Election Commission.
When asked about the incident involving the BLO in Margao, which was highlighted by Gomes, the District Collector said the question of insisting on documents does not arise during enumeration, when the BLOs are only required to distribute the forms and collect them from the voters.
She, however, stated that the passport issue surfaced after the voter produced an invalid passport, prompting the BLO to inquire about the document.
“When someone is filling up the enumeration form for others, is it not proper on the part of the BLO to find out about the whereabouts of the voter, whether they are staying in Goa or settled abroad? But, as I have stated earlier, this process of insisting on documents will come after December 5”, she said.