The Trinamool Congress on Sunday criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for calling the elderly, ailing citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) to attend the hearing at camps away from their residences as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

On December 27, the ECI began the hearing of electors who were categorized as “unmapped” owing to discrepancies in their enumeration forms.

TMC MP Partha Bhowmik alleged in a press conference that the ECI has summoned elderly and ailing persons who were put under that category, adding that the party had flagged the issue and advised that polling officials should be sent to their residences.

“This is nothing short of torture. The EC sends polling personnel to the residences of elderly persons due to mobility issue. Why could they not follow the same procedure this time?” he said. “We condemn such a behaviour,” he added.

Shashi Panja, state’s Minister of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, described the ECI’s attitude as “inhuman.”

“Elderly persons, ailing and differently abled people are facing great difficulty in reaching the camps at the appointed date and hour. The EC must immediately arrange for their hearing to take place at homes by lowering the age limit for such a facility of 85 years,” she said.

SIR hearings of ‘unmapped’ voters paused in Bengal

The senior TMC leader demanded that the ECI publish a break-up of the categories under which people were called for hearing, noting that a total of 1.36 crore people would be called for the process.