Ajit Anjum’s viral video on Patna voter list misleading, says EC, district administration
Patna: The Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Patna district administration have firmly rejected the allegations made in a viral video shared by YouTuber Ajit Anjum, which claimed that a Booth Level Officer (BLO) was seen filling out and signing multiple voter forms during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Labeling the video as “false and misleading,” the ECI responded to social media posts by political figures, including RJD MP Manoj Jha, who had questioned the authenticity of the process and asked whether such acts were also to be considered misleading. In a public reply, the ECI directed users to a clarification issued by the Patna district administration.
The District Returning Officer-cum-District Magistrate of Patna, Tyagarajan S.M., confirmed that an internal investigation had been conducted, and statements were recorded from the concerned BLOs. Those named in the inquiry include Rani Kumari (Booth 226), Vijay Kumar (Booth 32), Sanjeet Kumar (Booth 224), Raj Kishore Singh (Booth 25), and Amit Kumar (Booth 260).
According to the administration, these officers were in the process of compiling lists of deceased voters and individuals who have permanently migrated out of Bihar. These lists are intended to be verified with Booth Level Agents (BLAs) from various political parties before finalisation to prevent the exclusion of any genuine voter.
Importantly, the administration noted that the viral video in question was recorded and circulated before the final draft of the electoral list was ready. For instance, Rani Kumari clarified that out of 878 voters at her booth, the partial list of 725 voters shown in the video had not been finalised at the time of filming.
The administration asserted that the BLOs were acting under the instructions of the District Returning Officer and within the procedural norms of the SIR process. The claims made in the video, it concluded, were misleading and failed to represent the ongoing work accurately.
In its statement, the district administration also cautioned journalists and content creators against publishing reports without verifying facts or seeking the administration’s version. It appealed to the public to remain vigilant against misinformation that could distort the democratic process.
The controversy erupted after the video titled “Caught on camera: BLO found filling and signing thousands of voter forms in Patna” was uploaded on July 16, leading to sharp political criticism and calls for action.
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Loco pilots' union alleges manipulation of working hours to hide overutilisation
New Delhi (PTI): The loco pilots' union has alleged that various railway zones are manipulating the working hours of train drivers by falsely entering duty breaks during their 12 to 16-hour-long trips in the online Crew Management System (CMS) to hide their overutilisation.
As per railway norms, a loco pilot cannot be asked to work more than 9 hours at a stretch and no more than 11 hours in total from sign-on to sign-off. Since 2021, the Safety Department of the Railway Board has instructed all zonal railways that 80 per cent of trips should be completed within the 9-hour limit.
The Railway Ministry had earlier stated that it has not only initiated aggressive recruitment of loco pilots but also created several amenities for them, including urinal facilities in over 900 locomotives, air-conditioning systems in over 7,000 locomotives, and upgraded all 558 running rooms across the rail network.
The All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) stated that safety regulations prohibit overburdening loco pilots with excessive duty hours. They alleged that rail administrations are regularly violating these rules to compensate for a 15–20 per cent staff shortage.
"Though this illegal practice is happening in many divisions and zones, we have started by raising the issue with the General Manager of East Central Railway (ECR). We have submitted a memorandum compiling several issues that affect loco pilots' working conditions, including the false trip break," said Ashok Kumar Raut, General Secretary of AILRSA.
The ECR has not responded to the allegations.
However, following Raut's representation, one of ECR's divisions, Dhanbad, issued a circular dated July 15, 2025, warning of strict action against the false insertion of duty breaks between sign-on and sign-off in the CMS.
"A direction is being issued to all to not break duty hours between the sign-on and sign-off of the crew while registering it in CMS (Crew Management System). If it is happening in any crew lobby, it must be stopped immediately. If such cases are found, strict disciplinary action will be taken," the circular stated.
Raut explained that lobby officials record the sign-on and sign-off times of loco pilots in the CMS when their shift starts and ends, respectively. However, in cases where a loco pilot works for more than 12 hours, contractual staff at the lobby are allegedly inserting fake duty breaks -- ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours -- on verbal orders from senior officials to conceal overutilisation.
Each railway division submits monthly crew working hours data to the Railway Board in a fixed format. These duty breaks are reportedly used to avoid detection of excessive working hours, which violates operational safety norms.
"This illegal and unsafe practice of inserting duty breaks in the system is being done on the verbal orders of some senior officials, such as the Chief Traction Loco Controller and Chief Crew Controller. Railways has outsourced CMS data entry work to private personnel, and these officials instruct them to insert such breaks," Raut alleged.
He added, "I have gathered data from some divisions on illegal trip breaks by lobby staff. In May and June 2025, in the Dhanbad division alone, there were 2,719 such cases; 1,883 in the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar division; and 785 in the Danapur division."
He also claimed that the Samastipur and Sonpur divisions manipulated working hours in 304 and 83 cases, respectively.
Earlier this year, in April, South Central Railway reviewed CMS data on loco pilots’ working hours and found that, in 545 cases in the Secunderabad division, 42 in Vijayawada, 26 in Guntakal, three each in Guntur and Nanded, and one in the Hyderabad division, goods train loco pilots worked between 13:55 and 14:00 hours but were compelled to feed incorrect times to hide actual duty hours.
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