The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal is proving to be a great social leveller.
From the wealthy to the poor, the powerful to the hapless, and the educated to the unlettered, households across Calcutta are bound by one common factor: anxiety.
Scurrying for papers and fretting over missing documents has become a daily routine across homes.
“Please, can anyone inform me if a senior citizen’s card is necessary as an ID proof?” wrote a retired man in a WhatsApp group comprising top government officials.
“Is an online facility available for those who cannot remain present during BLO’s (booth-level officer) visit?” asked another government official in the same group.
As the revision rolls out and enumeration forms are distributed, anxious citizens are looking for answers to countless queries, compounded by an almost total lack of communication from the Election Commission.
“When you are touching the lives of millions, you should have adequate communication strategies to prevent mass anxiety, which is happening now. The communication strategy is missing,” said a senior state government official on Wednesday.
He added that even within the government, there is uncertainty about which documents are actually required. Ordinary citizens face the same confusion.
“The electoral officials need to come out and explain publicly the structure of the changes taking place,” said a Ballygunge resident.
A resident of Kasba visited the Kolkata Municipal Corporation headquarters to get his son’s birth certificate. “I am not sure whether it is required as proof for my son, who
was not a voter in 2002 and
now lives in another city,” he said.
He added that a senior official he spoke to was equally uncertain. “He asked me if he should also get his son’s birth certificate. I was surprised that even a senior government official was anxious about documents,” he said.
A doctor who lives in a south Calcutta condominium said the only topic during morning walks is how to find names on the 2002 voter list.
“Several businessmen in our complex, who are my morning walk companions, say they cannot remember their constituency or polling booth. They went to the
BLO, who could not help. Everyone is worried,” the doctor said.
A surgeon said he asked a stranger to locate his family’s names on the 2002 list.
“My constituency was initially Dhakuria. Now it is Rashbehari. I was completely lost and had no idea who could help. Someone I know connected me to a stranger who promised assistance,” the surgeon said. “My surgeries were affected because of all this,” he added.
A political worker in the Jadavpur Assembly constituency, not a BLA (booth-level agent) for his party, said he has been approached by people from all walks of life.
“I am trying to help as much as possible, but there are things I also don’t know,” said the man in his early 40s.
A 76-year-old woman, a cancer survivor, pressed his doorbell a few days ago. “How do I find out whether our names are on the 2002 voter list? If not, what do we do?” she asked. Her husband, 84, has impaired vision, and
their only daughter lives in Bengaluru.
“They are helpless. They cannot check the voter list themselves,” the political worker said. “I went through the list and confirmed their names were there,” he added.
Many others have approached him in recent days.
An elderly man said he could not locate his 2002 polling booth. Due to delimitation, his constituency changed twice since 2002: from Jadavpur to Ballygunge to Kasba.
“The polling booth remained the same, but the number kept changing. BLOs are not helping with such issues, so people turn to individuals like me,” the political worker said.