Queues grow despite uncertainty over domicile cert as SIR proof
Times of India | 6 January 2026
Kolkata: Despite the EC-state govt standoff over the validity of domicile certificates for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing, hundreds of voters who received the SIR hearing notice continued to queue at the KMC headquarters to get one.
CM Mamata Banerjee complained to the EC on Saturday: "It was informally communicated to all district election officers (DEOs) that permanent residence certificates/domicile certificates issued by various authorities of the state govt will not be accepted as proof of identity of electors." However, the BJP alleged on Monday that domicile certificates cannot be used if the person did not stay at the place for 10 years. The EC accepts a permanent residence certificate issued by the competent state authority as a valid SIR document. The EC sought a report from the Bengal govt on who issues these domicile certificates.
However, this did not stop people who started receiving SIR hearing notices from queueing up for one. Sakina Begum, an octogenarian from Ripon Street, reached the KMC headquarters on Monday with her three daughters, none of whose names figured on the 2002 SIR list. After getting a hearing notice from the EC, Sakina Begum rushed to the civic headquarters with relevant documents that might get her a domicile certificate.
However, when it was her turn to submit the relevant papers to the KMC counter, she was told that the certificate would be issued from the collector's office in BBD Bag after careful examination of the documents. "We can't take the harassment anymore. I was a resident of Ripon Street for the past six decades, and now I am told to prove my citizenship. My husband worked at a famous heritage hotel in the Esplanade area. My children grew up here. What else do I need to prove my citizenship?" she asked.
According to a KMC official on duty at the counter, citizens in large numbers gathered in front of the counter every day, waiting anxiously to get a domicile certificate. Most of the applicants did not know that KMC had no role in the issuance of such a certificate, except collecting valid documents and sending them to the collector's office in Dalhousie.
Kasba resident Pinky Dasgupta was also in the queue. "Since my name didn't figure on the 2002 SIR list, I came to the KMC headquarters with the hope that I will be given a domicile certificate based on the documents that I am carrying. I was told that the documents will be sent to another govt office for issuance. I shiver to think what will happen if I don't get a domicile certificate."
Suntali Lama, who is from Kalimpong but now stays in Garia, was also in the queue. She said, "Though originally from Kalimpong, I have lived in Kolkata for more than four decades. Now I need a domicile certificate as I couldn't find my name on the 2002 SIR and got a notice for a hearing. I hope KMC will arrange a certificate."