Electoral roll call: 70-year-old ailing voter travels from Birati to Shyampukur
Times of India | 5 January 2026
Kolkata: Arati Basak (70) was seen getting out of a yellow taxi with her son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons to appear for a hearing at Sailendra Sircar Vidyalaya on Sunday afternoon. Arati has several age-related ailments, including arthritis. She could not walk properly and was unable to travel long distances, which led to physical issues such as vomiting and headaches.
Arati and her family were long-time residents of Shyampukur, but a few years ago they shifted to Birati. Currently, only her elder son and his family live in Shyampukur, while Arati and her three other sons and their families moved to Birati.
Arati said, "I can't remember a single election that I missed voting in, but my son told me that my name was missing and that I will have to appear in the hearing. I don't know what the procedure is, but I faced difficulties travelling this distance in the extreme cold. I can't walk properly, so they took me to the hearing centre."
After getting out of the taxi, she immediately sat outside a closed shop on the pavement to take a deep breath.
Uttam Basak, her son, said, "My elder brother called me two days ago and told me that her hearing notice came. She has health issues, so I had to hire a yellow taxi and pay Rs 350 to travel this distance. We will again have to hire a cab paying around Rs 350-400 to return home. If we stayed here, we could have had the hearing at home, but they couldn't travel to Birati because of the distance," he added.
Uttam said his mother was the only family member to get a hearing call and that she was upset to learn that her name was not on the 2002 SIR roll.