Tea garden records get EC’s nod for SIR in north Bengal
Times of India | 12 January 2026
Kolkata: EC has given a go-ahead to Bengal chief electoral officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal's proposal on Sunday to accept tea garden and cinchona plantation records as documents for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for the north Bengal districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and the two Dinajpurs.
Most tea garden workers, who have lived for years in labourer quarters, don't have EC-notified documents and had not figured in the 2002 SIR list.
A proposal was sent to the EC from the Bengal CEO's office to regard tea garden and cinchona plantation records as SIR documents for these workers so that their names would not be struck off the final list. In a letter signed by Shakti Sharma, EC under secretary, Agarwal was informed that EC had "no objection" to the proposal to recognise these employment records as proof of identity and residence.
Earlier, Election Commission officials had said tea estate workers would be verified by DEOs, who would conduct public hearing inquiries, record statements and prepare formal proceedings.