(MENAFN- Live Mint) Amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, approximately 14 lakh SIR enumeration forms have so far been identified as "uncollectable" in West Bengal, the Election Commission said. According to an official, these voters were either absentee, duplicate, dead or permanently shifted.

He mentioned,“As of Tuesday noon, the number stood at 13.92 lakh... We expect this figure to continue rising daily as more updates roll in."

The number stood at 10.33 lakh as of Monday evening, he added.

The official noted that Booth Level Officers (BLOs ) have been actively involved in distributing forms and collecting the required information. Over 80,600 BLOs, supported by about 8,000 supervisors, 3,000 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, and 294 Electoral Registration Officers, have been deployed for the SIR process.

'Chaotic, Coercive and dangerous'

CM Mamata Banerjee o n Thursday sent a strongly worded letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, urging him to immediately stop the exercise she described as“chaotic, coercive and dangerous”.

Banerjee stated that she has "time and again" raised concerns about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state and now feels "compelled to write" to the chief election commissioner, as the situation has reached a“deeply alarming stage”.

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She claimed that the SIR in Bengal is being conducted in an“unplanned, dangerous” manner that has“crippled the process from day one".

The chief minister accused the Election Commission of imposing the SIR on officials and citizens“without basic preparedness, adequate planning or clear communication”, pointing out that major gaps in training, confusion over mandatory documents, and the "near-impossibility" of BLOs meeting voters during working hours have made the exercise“structurally unsound".

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Banerjee requested the CEC to“intervene decisively” to halt the ongoing process, stop "coercive" measures, ensure proper training and support, and“thoroughly reassess” the current methodology and timelines.

She warned,“If this path is not corrected without delay, the consequences for the system, the officials and the citizens will be irreversible,” calling it a moment that requires“responsibility, humanity and decisive corrective action.”

In the three-page letter, one of her strongest yet, she depicted booth-level officers as being stretched“far beyond human limits".

“They are expected to manage their principal duties, many being teachers and frontline workers, while simultaneously conducting door-to-door surveys and handling complex e-submissions,” she stated, adding that most were struggling with online forms due to lack of training, server failures and repeated data mismatches.

Key Takeaways

• Approximately 14 lakh SIR enumeration forms have so far been identified as "uncollectable" in West Bengal, the Election Commission said.
• According to an official, these voters were either absentee, duplicate, dead or permanently shifted.

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