The second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal will begin on December 27, with the Election Commission of India (ECI) gearing up to conduct hearings for more than one crore voters across the state.
As part of the preparations, the ECI has begun training micro-observers who will oversee the hearing process to ensure that it is conducted strictly in accordance with Commission guidelines. The observers have been directed to monitor proceedings and record any deviation by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) or Assistant EROs (AEROs). In case irregularities persist despite alerts, the micro-observers have been asked to report directly to the ECI.
According to officials, at least 11 hearing tables will be set up in each Assembly constituency, with one ERO or AERO and one micro-observer stationed at every table. This would take the total number of tables to 3,234 across the state’s 294 constituencies. The number may be increased if required, and the deployment of micro-observers could exceed 4,000.
In a directive issued on Wednesday, the ECI detailed the procedure for hearings. The letter stated, “In the cases where notices are being issued to the electors by the EROs, concerned electors may be required to submit prescribed documents to show eligibility, including mapping in the last SIR. The documents shall be uploaded through the BLO App for the ERO examination.”
It further said that documents submitted by electors would be verified by the issuing authorities through District Election Officers (DEOs) within five days of their upload on the ECINet platform. If a document has been issued in another district within the state, the DEO will forward it through ECINet to the concerned district for verification. In cases where documents have been issued by authorities outside West Bengal, the DEO will route the verification request through the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to the CEO of the concerned state.
The ECI also instructed the CEO of West Bengal to ensure that the directions are communicated to all DEOs, EROs and roll observers for strict compliance.
According to the Commission, around 10 lakh electors have been issued notices for hearings in the first phase. The total number of electors under scrutiny stands at 1.67 crore — comprising 1.36 crore electors with logical discrepancies and 31 lakh electors whose records have no mapping. The hearings will begin with the 31 lakh electors whose entries lack mapping.
The ECI has also developed dedicated software to streamline the hearing process. Under the system, each elector will have a separate account containing stored information and scanned copies of documents submitted during the hearing.
On December 16, the ECI published the draft electoral roll after completion of the first phase of the SIR. The number of voters dropped from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore following the deletion of over 58 lakh names. According to official data, 58,08,232 enumeration forms were not uploaded on the BLO application. These included 24,18,699 deceased voters, 12,01,462 untraceable voters, 19,93,087 voters who had permanently shifted, 1,37,475 voters enrolled at multiple places, and 57,509 others.
According to the ECI, electors summoned for hearings may be required to submit any of the following documents: The Commission has clarified that an Aadhaar card will not be accepted as the sole identity document.
Meanwhile, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have begun correcting spelling and typographical errors in voter records. Voters are being called with supporting documents, after which corrections are being made through declarations submitted on the BLO application.