Kolkata: From community halls and local playgrounds to even bus shelters, SIR ‘camps' sprouted all over Kolkata on Sunday as BLOs sprinted for the last mile to complete digitisation of the SIR enumeration forms by the Nov 25 deadline. The camps drew voters in hordes trying to fill in and submit their forms to the BLOs.
While such camps have been operational over the past week, the numbers doubled since Friday, with BLOs trying to make the most of the last available weekend.
Several block welfare associations in Salt Lake and New Town helped residents to submit the forms in the presence of the BLOs by providing space with a table and chairs in the community centre premises. Residents were assisted by the BLOs to fill in and submit the completed forms on the spot, with corrections made in case of any inaccuracies.
Such camps have also been held in several parts across the city, spreading from Dhakuria to Tollygunge and Jadavpur, and even Behala and Sarsuna, where camps were held even at local playgrounds and bus shelters.
"We are very happy with such arrangements. Within three minutes, I submitted my enumeration form," said Nasibur Rahman, a resident of New Town AB block. "It has been of much help for us to peacefully submit our forms," said Pradip Tarafdar, another resident.
At Dhakuria, electors from a local slum and a high-rise queued together near the lake. "About 10 people were called for every 30-minute slot to fill in and submit the forms. The process was seamless," said Ranjit Kumar Mitra, who attended this camp.
"Our co-operative asked us to come to the local office. I had a few queries. The entire submission took me hardly 20 minutes," said Oindrilla Banerjee, a resident of Swaranika Cooperative Society at Sakuntala Park.
Shrabonti Tahabilder Biswas, a BLO working in the Cossipore area, said: "In a recent ECI training, we were told to collect forms at camps instead of visiting every household. So I picked two or three different locations. This way, I saved a lot of time." A BLO said that there were over 600 voters in her area, and it was taking less time to collect forms than it took distributing them. "Having a central point for collection reduced work pressure," she added.