Names of almost 26 lakh voter in West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls (SIR) do not match with the voter list of 2002 according to the Election Commission. The discrepancy came to light after the state’s latest voter list was compared with those prepared across different states between 2002 and 2006 during the previous SIR exercise.

Election Commission sources have revealed that out of the 6 crore voters matched in the state so far, the whereabouts of about 26 lakh voters are not matching with SIR of 2002. A Commission official said that this number will increase as the matching of the submitted enumeration forms progresses.

“Once digitised, these forms are brought under the mapping procedure, where they are matched against the previous SIR records. Initial findings show that the names of around 26 lakh voters in the state cannot yet be reconciled with the data from the last SIR cycle,” the ECI official told PTI.

The national Election Commission has announced that three officials will be sent from Delhi to the state to complete the SIR (SIR in Bengal) phase smoothly. These include Principal Secretary B C Patra, Secretary Soumyajit Ghosh and Additional Secretary Vibhor Agarwal. All three of them will work under the state Election Commission Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) Manoj Agarwal.

State Election Commission writes letter to Kolkata Police regarding BLOs’ protest

Meanwhile, the Election Commission’s secretary Sujit Kumar Mishra wrote a letter to the Kolkata Police Commissioner on Wednesday regarding the Booth Level Officer (BLO) rights protection committee’s entry into the state’s office on Monday and the unpleasant situation that arose. The letter has directed the police to send an ‘action taken report’ in this regard within the next 48 hours.

A section of BLOs protested at the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer on Monday, venting out against ‘excessive workload’. The protesting BLOs wanted to meet the state CEO Manoj Agarwal. But the CEO did not agree to meet him as he did not have an appointment. After that, 13 members of the ‘BLO Rights Protection Committee’ continued the dharna throughout the night.

However, it is alleged that most of those who took the stand on behalf of the Trinamool-backed organisation were not BLOs. On Tuesday evening, the CEO met three BLOs from Purulia. The remaining protesters withdrew the dharna by submitting a letter with their demands to the additional CEO.

What is BLO Rights Protection Committee in West Bengal?

The BLO Rights Protection Committee is a forum of Booth Level Officers in India that advocates for their rights and protests against difficult working conditions, particularly in West Bengal. This committee has been prominent in recent news due to protests regarding the intense work pressure and unrealistic deadlines associated with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

BLOs falling sick amid SIR work

Amidst SIR work, three BLOs fell ill and are currently undergoing treatment. MP Abhishek Banerjee got a BLO from Namkhana admitted to Kolkata’s SSKM hospital. Another BLO was admitted to the hospital after suffering a heart attack in Bongaon, North 24 Parganas. The family of the BLO from Bongaon-North constituency named Sushanta Sikder alleged that the 57-year-old school teacher has diabetes and blood pressure. His wife Sumita alleged that Sushanta had been going through extreme mental pressure ever since he started working as a BLO. On Monday, he fell ill and could not sleep properly at night, so he was first admitted to Bongaon Subdistrict Hospital and later shifted to Kalyani Hospital.

On the other hand, a BLO named Farida Khatun has been served a show cause notice for not fulfilling her duties citing illness in Maheshtala, South 24 Parganas. It is learnt that after distributing a total of 812 forms, she had also collected 450 forms. After that, she did not collect any more forms as she fell ill. Several forms were not even digitized. That is why that BLO has been shown the notice.

Long or Short, get news the way you like. No ads. No redirections. Download Newspin and Stay Alert, The CSR Journal Mobile app, for fast, crisp, clean updates!

App Store – https://apps.apple.com/in/app/newspin/id6746449540

Google Play Store – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inventifweb.newspin&pcampaignid=web_share