Midway through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal has proposed to the Election Commission of India (ECI) that electors attending hearings and submitting documents to include their names in the voters’ list should be given a receipt.

“We have already made the proposal, let us see what decision will be taken by ECI,” Agarwal said.

The development follows Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raising the issue at a press conference and in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday. She noted that during SIR hearings, electors were submitting requisite documents in support of their eligibility, but, in several cases, no proper acknowledgement or receipt was being issued.

“Subsequently, at the stage of verification or hearing, these documents are reported as ‘not found’ or ‘not available on record’, and on that basis, names of electors are being deleted from the electoral rolls,” she added, calling the procedure “fundamentally flawed and untenable”.

Not issuing “documentary acknowledgement” deprived electors of proof of submission and placed them at the mercy of “internal record-keeping deficiencies”, she added.

According to CEO Agarwal, voters are submitting photocopies of documents to the electoral registration officer (ERO) or the assistant electoral registration officer (AERO) during the SIR hearings. The latest proposal suggests that officials stamp ‘received’ on a photocopy.

The second phase of the SIR hearing process in West Bengal is being held in 294 Assembly constituencies and will continue till February 7. A final electoral roll will be published on February 14.