West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal recently said that his office was contemplating easing the rules for people belonging to Adivasi communities under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

CEO Agarwal said, “District Election Officers (DEOs) have been given special powers to include people belonging to Adivasi groups in the electoral rolls.”

A source in the office of the CEO informed that there is a possibility of scores of Scheduled Tribe people being left out of the updated rolls if the Election Commission of India (ECI) does not ease the rules for the hearing process under SIR.

There is a sizeable tribal population, especially from Santhal, Oraon, Bhumij, Munda, Lodha, and Birhor groups, in Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, and Paschim Burdwan districts of South Bengal, apart from Malda and the two Dinajpurs in North Bengal.

ECI sources said they have also faced issues in enumerating members of the Toto tribe in Jalpaiguri and Bhutias in Darjeeling owing to a lack of documentation.