NewKerala.com

Key Points

West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer has initiated massive preparations for a potential electoral revision exercise. The state will print approximately 15 crore SIR application forms, double the current voter count of 7.65 crore. Training for 4,000 officers is underway with plans to train 75,000 booth-level officers before Durga Puja. The move has sparked political tensions with BJP supporting the revision while TMC opposes it vehemently.

Key Points: West Bengal CEO Orders SIR Form Printing for Electoral Revision

  • CEO orders printing 15 crore forms for electoral revision exercise
  • Training completed for 4,000 officers by September 21-22
  • Forms to be printed locally in districts to save time
  • BJP demands revision alleging illegal voters in rolls
  • TMC opposes SIR fearing deletion of legitimate voters
  • Revision likely to begin after Durga Puja festivities
2 min read

West Bengal CEO orders printing of SIR application forms in state

West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal orders printing of 15 crore SIR forms for electoral revision after Durga Puja, sparking political debate between BJP and TMC.

"The number of forms to be printed will be twice the total number of voters in the state - CEO's Office Sources"

Kolkata, Sep 16

West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, has given instructions to start printing of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) application forms (enumeration forms) in the state, giving rise to speculation that the exercise could be conducted in the state after Durga Puja festivities.

On Tuesday, the CEO launched training for the officers involved in the SIR in the state. About 4,000 officers from the state attended this training. Those who attended the training included EROs, AEROs, ADMs and a few DMs.

The remaining 75,000 booth-level officers of the state will be trained on SIR before Durga Puja. The CEO's office said that EROs and AEROs will train the BLOs. The training has been asked to be completed by September 21-22.

Sources in the CEO's office said that the number of forms to be printed will be twice the total number of voters in the state. According to the CEO's office, there are currently about 7.65 crore voters in the state. Therefore, about 15 crore forms will be printed.

As it is not possible to print such a large number of forms from a specific place, therefore, the CEO's office has asked for information about which districts will be able to print the forms.

It was also learnt that if such forms could not be printed in any of the districts, then the same would be printed and sent from Kolkata.

The CEO's office said that in the case of Bihar, the forms were printed from one place, which took a lot of time. This time, printing the forms will be done in the various districts, which will save time as the work will be done quickly.

The BJP has been demanding the SIR of West Bengal electoral rolls, alleging that a large number of illegal voters, including Bangladeshi and Rohingyas, are present in the current voters' list. The ruling Trinamool Congress, on the other hand, has opposed the move. Party supremo Mamata Banerjee threatened to launch a bigger movement if the names of legal citizens are deleted from the voter's list.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

P
Priyanka N
Why after Durga Puja? This timing seems suspicious. The government should complete such important work before festivals. 15 crore forms is massive printing work - hope they don't waste public money.
A
Amit S
As a BLO from Howrah, I appreciate the decentralized printing approach. Last time everything came from Kolkata and we faced delays. Local printing will definitely speed up the process. Good decision!
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Sunita J
Hope this doesn't become another political drama. Both TMC and BJP playing games with voter lists. The focus should be on ensuring every legitimate Indian citizen gets to vote, nothing else.
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Michael C
Interesting to see how India handles large-scale electoral processes. 75,000 officers trained in weeks - impressive logistics! The decentralized printing model makes perfect sense for such a massive operation.
K
Kavya N
Mamata Didi is right to be cautious. In the name of removing illegal voters, many genuine voters from minority communities might get excluded. The process must be transparent and fair to all citizens.

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