ECI considering appointing micro observers for second stage of SIR in Bengal

KOLKATA — The Election Commission of India (ECI) is considering appointing micro observers for the second stage of the three-level Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, which will start after the publication of the draft electoral roll on December 16.

The second stage will involve filing claims and objections, and the notice phase -- which is issuance, hearing, verification, and decision on enumeration forms and disposal of claims and objections -- to be done concurrently by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs)     

These micro observers will be in addition to the 12 special observers, all serving or retired Indian Administrative Services officers, already appointed by the ECI to oversee the revision exercise in the state that started from November 4, sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, in Kolkata said.

The ECI has already summoned the 12 observers to New Delhi for a meeting at the ECI’s headquarters there on Monday. In that meeting, the ECI will issue certain guidelines to be followed to maintain the sanctity of the revision exercise in the second stage, one of which could be about the appointment of micro observers.

“Almost all the opposition parties have demanded the appointment of micro observers for the second stage to prevent any kind of possible manipulation in that stage. The ECI, on its part, has also found merit in these demands,” a CEO office insider said.

After the second stage is over, the third and final stage, which is the publication of the final electoral roll, will be on February 14.  Soon after the publication of the final electoral roll, the ECI is expected to announce the dates for the crucial Assembly elections in the state.

With the digitisation of the enumeration forms almost complete, already over 55 lakh names have been identified as excludable from the voters’ list. These include dead voters, untraceable voters, shifted voters, duplicate voters, and those deemed to be removed for other reasons.

The ECI had already directed the electoral officers in the state to focus on minute “progeny’ mapping amid serious flaws being detected as regards to parents’ identities in the current voters’ list as on October 27.