West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list work is now in full swing across the state and ahead of this crucial phase, a high-level delegation from the Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to arrive in Kolkata next week. Their primary objective: to assess the progress of the revision process and ensure complete transparency in the preparation of the voter list.
According to the Commission sources, the ECI team — consisting of Senior DEC Gyanesh Bharti, Principal Secretaries SB Joshi and Malay Mallik and Deputy Secretary Abhinav Agarwal — will reach Kolkata on November 18. They will attend the First Level Checking (FLC) workshop scheduled for November 21, where the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), District Election Officers (DEOs) and other senior officials will also be present.
Across Bengal, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are already conducting door-to-door visits to distribute enumeration forms. As per the latest ECI statistics, 7.45 crore forms — 97.33 per cent of the total — have been distributed. However, the Commission’s recent report points out significant disparities in progress among different assembly constituencies.
The CEO’s office has identified around 40 assembly constituencies where form distribution is still below 75 per cent. These include constituencies like Siliguri, Kaliaganj, Raiganj, Tapan, Palashipara, Ranaghat North-East, Jagaddal, Nawapara, Khardah, Panihati and Rajarhat Newtown.
In these areas, the district administration has launched an intensive effort to accelerate distribution. The Election Commission has directed all districts to ensure 100 per cent distribution by December 4.
On November 12, CEO Manoj Agarwal held a virtual review meeting with Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) from the lagging constituencies to address the bottlenecks and push the process forward.
Meanwhile, the CEO's office has underscored the importance of Aadhaar-linked verification during the revision. Officials stated that if an enumeration form has been filled in the name of a person who, as per Aadhaar records, is deceased, the ERO must conduct an in-person verification. Only after this verification will a final decision be made regarding the inclusion or deletion of that entry.
The Election Commission maintains that these measures are essential to maintaining accuracy, transparency and credibility in the electoral roll ahead of upcoming electoral exercises.
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