West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Tuesday said that an AI-based software with face recognition features will be used to identify duplicate voters in West Bengal during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

“The AI-based software, through the face recognition feature, will identify the duplicate voters. The CEC has given clear instructions that in case of dead, shifted or duplicate voters, the responsibility lies on the person who signs the form,” the CEO said.

Meanwhile, a four-member central team from the Election Commission arrived in Kolkata for a four-day visit to review the ongoing month-long SIR exercise, which is set to conclude on December 4. This marks the second EC team visit to the state this month, indicating the poll panel’s special focus on the SIR’s progress in the state. The team members include Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, two EC Principal Secretaries, SB Joshi and Malay Mallick, and Deputy Secretary Abhinav Agarwal.

Deputy Secretary Agarwal said, “The EC team is happy reviewing the progress of the work.”

“On Tuesday, the EC team reviewed the work progress of Kolkata South and North, following which they reviewed the progress in South 24 Parganas,” the officer said.

“The team will also be reviewing Nadia and Malda districts. The EC team will hold an online meeting with all District Election Officers (DEOs) on November 21,” he added.

The Election Commission is happy with the work progress of the BLOs, he said. “The BLOs are putting in a lot of effort. They are working from morning to night. So, there are no separate guidelines for the BLOs. EC is happy with their work,” he added further.