SIR in Bengal: 2.10 crore enumeration forms distributed in three days

KOLKATA — A total of 2.10 crore enumeration forms have been distributed among voters of West Bengal in the first three days of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The ECI began the SIR in the state on Tuesday, and 2.10 crore enumeration forms were distributed till 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Sources in the Chief Electoral Office (CEO), West Bengal, said the progress of SIR in the state, regarding the distribution of enumeration forms, is quite satisfactory compared to 11 other states where the poll exercise is underway.

The total number of electors in West Bengal as per the electoral roll as on October 27, is 7,66,37,529.

Voters whose names or their parents' names were included in the electoral rolls in 2002, the last time the SIR was conducted in West Bengal, will have to include details in the enumeration forms and submit them.

These voters will not have to submit any other supporting documents to retain their names in the electoral roll. Earlier, the SIR in West Bengal was conducted in 2002.

Voters, whose names or their parents' names did not figure in the 2002 list, will have to submit any one of the 11 documents specified by the Commission to retain their names in the voter list.

Meanwhile, the three-member central team of ECI, comprising Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, Deputy Secretary Abhinav Agarwal, and Principal Secretary S.B. Joshi, who is currently on a three-day visit to West Bengal to review the progress of the ongoing SIR, will hold a crucial meeting with the district-level electoral officers in Cooch Behar district in North Bengal later in the day.

On Thursday, the central ECI team met the district-level electoral officers in Alipurduar district.

In the meeting, the central ECO team directed the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) of Alipurduar district to keep a close watch on the activities of the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the revision process to ensure that the BLOs perform their duties in accordance with ECI guidelines.

The BLOs were advised to wear and display their identity cards during house-to-house visits and to complete the assigned work within the stipulated time frame for the SIR.