Many face hardships, skip work to get names included in voters’ list
The Statesman | 10 April 2026
Gopal Saha joined a private company as a pantry in-charge in early December. Being still under the probation period, Gopal is not entitled to any kinds of leaves for six months.
However, despite putting his best efforts and keeping aside his personal needs, Gopal has taken two leaves since his joining. His last leave was in the month of January that he took after much persuasion and a salary cut. According to the 38-year-old, another leave from office cost him too much as it came with a warning and a pay cut of three days.
For Sudip, the situation was worse, a leave from office did not only cost him his day’s salary but also commission. “I am in the sales department of a private company in Salt Lake. For today’s leave, I will not only lose my salary but also the leads generated by me would be bagged by my colleague who would be entitled to part of the commission for attending the clients. The thought of losing so much is turning me furious,” said Sudip.
Similar was the agony of Monalisa, who came to submit the appeal for her pregnant sister. Monalisa works at a call centre in the IT hub at Salt Lake. Her sister’s name has appeared in the list of deletions. However, with the delivery date nearing, Monalisa’s sister could not turn up to submit the appeal. Instead, Monalisa had to take a leave from work and do the needful for her sister.
Such are the plight of the appellants who are turning up in large numbers at Survey Building. The rush of submitting the appeal before the deadline, is giving the citizens a tough time in managing work and turning up to the venue. “Initially, I supported the idea when the SIR was declared in West Bengal,” said Gopal. “I had no idea back then that it would bring such harassment to the citizens. Four names, including my family members and close relatives, have been deleted. It was impossible for my father, who is a senior citizen, to submit his appeal. Having to leave work and pay is very pinching and disappointing,” rued Gopal.
Frequent no-entry around the area for VVIPs, including ministers and other bigwigs filing their nominations at Survey Building, added to the woes of the appellants trying to come to the venue. “Yesterday, I had to walk down till Mominpur Crossing to avail a transport as there were none around. On inquiry, the police informed that there was some VIP movement there so public transport vehicles were prohibited for a while,” said Shahina Begum, a resident of Kidderpore.
“I have arthritis and walking long distances is very painful for me. But I had no other option than walking as no public transport vehicles could be spotted around. I had never imagined that I would have to face such things at this stage of life,” she rued Shahina who works as a house help.