Amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal on Saturday emphasized the need for accurate electoral rolls and said that “no eligible voter is left out and no ineligible voter is included in the electoral rolls.”
Agarwal along with Special Roll Observer Subrata Gupta and other officials on Saturday convened a meeting with 12 newly appointed IAS officers as Electoral Roll Observers (EROs) and directed the observers to visit each district under their charge at least three times during the revision period.
They will oversee electoral roll preparation, assisting district election officers (DEOs) and electoral registration officers.
Gupta, a retired IAS officer, was appointed as the Special Roll Observer for the SIR exercise by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday.
According to the sources in the CEO office, Agarwal and Gupta mentioned the responsibilities of the observers during the SIR process, including receiving enumeration and hearing claims and objections.
“No eligible voter to be left out and no ineligible voter to be entered in the electoral Roll,” they said during the meeting.
The observers were instructed to meet with MPs, MLAs, and representatives of recognized political parties to address grievances and seek their involvement in the revision process. They were also asked to submit detailed reports to the CEO after each visit, highlighting issues requiring urgent remedial action.
“Detailed report on all the points of the enclosed checklist should be furnished to CEO of your state with a copy endorsed to the Commission after each visit (A note sheet pointing out the specific issues which require urgent remedial/corrective action may also be attached along with the report),” the order stated.
The ECI has ordered all EROs that they must visit each district under their charge at least three times during the entire SIR period. In their first visit, during the period of receipt of claims and objections/ Notice Phase; the second visit, during the period of disposal of claims and objections by the EROs and the third visit at the time of verification of the working copy by the BLOs/printing of supplements, and final publication of the roll.