As the SIR of the electoral rolls began in West Bengal, booth level officers (BLOs) are facing myriad questions from voters – when they would visit a house, how people staying abroad could be enumerated, what would happen to those born after 2002, and the like.
The Election Commission has entrusted BLOs with the task of visiting houses under their designated areas and verifying the credentials of voters, based on the rolls of 2002 when the last SIR was conducted in the state.
In Naktala-Baishnabghata belt under Tollygunge assembly seat in Kolkata, the phone of the BLO keeps ringing, and he responds to the anxious calls of voters.
"I can visit your residence only after one and a half weeks as your serial number is beyond 1300. We are now at serial number 400 only. Please call me by the end of next week,” the BLO is heard telling an anxious resident.
“You enrolled only two years ago. Don’t worry, your name would not be left out,” he tried to calm the voter who got his name registered in 2023 and voted in the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Walking in the maze of lanes and by-lanes, the BLO, who refused to be named, told the accompanying PTI correspondent that in the first three days since November 4, he has been able to distribute enumeration forms to around 300 households.
In the next house, he encountered 70-year old Prabir Sen, whose son and daughter are living abroad. He was worried as none of his children would be able to return by December 4, the last date for submission of enumeration forms.
"They can submit it online. They can download it from the EC website after filling up particulars like the part number of the booth, EPIC number etc. I will get back to you; please note down my mobile no," the BLO said.
Balaram Paul, 50, and his wife Monobina of Baishnabghata had a different problem. One of their children was born after 2002, and the other was only a few years old that year.
The parents were anxious about whether they would encounter any problem.
The BLO assured them: "Your children will not face any threat; they had voted in the last assembly and Lok Sabha polls, and your names feature in the 2002 voters list.” At another house on D P P Road, 49-year-old Anushila Dasgupta said she had voted in the 2002 elections in north Kolkata’s Kamarhati and shifted to the south Kolkata neighbourhood six years back.
Her problem is that she cannot trace her name in the 2002 electoral rolls in the Kamarhati assembly seat after logging in to the ECI website.
"We have to enquire why the list of 2002 in Kamarhati is showing incomplete. But given that you have voted in subsequent elections in either Kamarhati or Tollygunge. Your parents’ names are there in the 2002 voter list. So you need not worry,” the BLO said.
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) also appears to be a great leveler. From a retired army colonel to a taxi driver, from a home maker to a house maid – all could be seen in a queue at a Trinamool Congress camp set up to help people know more about the exercise.
"People are asking many questions. Some enquired if senior citizen's cards or Swasthya Sathi (health insurance) documents could work as identity proof. We are referring to the 11 listed documents as stated by the EC," Sabyasachi Basu, a local TMC activist, said.
The CEO's office in a statement, said 1.1 crore enumeration forms have been distributed up to 8 pm on November 5.
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