With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls concluding today, election officials are racing to finalize corrections and remove fraudulent entries before the draft list is published next week. This deadline marks a crucial step in ensuring accurate electoral rolls ahead of the polls.

The Election Commission (EC) has digitised data for nearly all of the state’s 7.64 crore voters, and West Bengal currently has 19,64,629 transferred voters, 10,94,710 missing voters, 1,32,215 duplicate entries, and 47,832 voters categorised under ‘others’ (technical or miscellaneous issues).

With Assembly polls nearing, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to inaugurate today one of the state’s largest infrastructure projects, the fourth phase of the Pathashree and Rastashree schemes. From the state secretariat, Nabanna, she will remotely launch the construction of around 20,000 km of new roads.

The project includes 9,114 rural roads (15,011 km) under the Panchayat Department, costing Rs 6,987 crore, and 11,365 urban roads (5,019 km) in KMDA areas, with a Rs 1,500 crore budget starting January. In total, the phase covers 20,479 roads spanning 20,030 km, with an estimated cost of Rs 21,987 crore.

In urban areas, under the jurisdiction of KMDA, 11,365 roads will be constructed, covering a distance of 5,019 km. The expenditure is estimated to be Rs 1,500 crore. This work will begin in January.

Combining both, this phase of Pathashree-Rastashree involves a total of 20,479 new roads, covering a total distance of 20,030 km. The total cost is Rs 21,987 crore making it one of the state’s largest infrastructure projects.