The Election Commission has decided to appoint more assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) and micro-observers in an apparent attempt to increase the number of hearing centres ahead of the hearing of voters with “logical discrepancies” in their enumeration forms.
“It has been decided that more AEROs and micro-observers will be appointed to increase the number of hearing centres in the next few weeks. More hearing centres are required to expedite the hearing process as more voters would be called for hearings,” said a senior EC official.
Although none in the EC made it clear how many hearing centres would be added to the existing 3,234 — 11 each in 294 Assembly segments — a section of the officials said that the figure would be around 4,500.
Right now, one electoral registration officer (EROs) and 10 AEROs are conducting hearings at 11 hearing centres in each of the Assembly segments. The figure has to be increased as the number of voters, who would be called for the hearings for the “logical discrepancies”, would be much higher than the unmapped voters.
These days, the EC is conducting hearings of 32 lakh unmapped voters, who could not link themselves with the 2002 post-SIR electoral rolls through self or progeny mapping.
“Hearing of about 27 lakh voters was completed till date, even though the process had started on December 27. Though it is estimated that hearings of unmapped voters would be completed in a day or two, it can be said that the progress is not satisfactory. As more voters would be called for a hearing in the next phase under the logical discrepancy category, more hearing centres would be required to complete the process by February 7, the last date of the hearing phase of the SIR,” said a source.
As the AEROs are state government officials, the EC could ask the district election officers, who are the DMs, to send names of officers who could be appointed as AEROs in the Assembly segments.
For micro-observers, the EC would send requisitions to the central government utilities in the state, requisitioning the names of officers in group B and above. Only central government employees are appointed as micro-observers.
Sources said that requisition of about 2,000 officers would be sent to the central government utilities like banks, Coal India, Damodar Valley Corporation and customs in Bengal. Training for these officials will be conducted on Thursday.
“The number of state government officials who would be appointed as AEROs would soon be determined,” said a source.
The sources said that the EC had flagged more than 95 lakh voters with discrepancies in their enumeration forms. A large number of them would be called for the hearings from January 14.
In the first phase, about 40 lakh voters, who have serious discrepancies in progeny mapping, would be called for hearings. The EC would try to resolve the issues related to the remaining voters with discrepancies through the BLOs, as their enumeration forms have spelling, photograph and gender mismatch with their parents orgrandparents.
“If any of these voters could not satisfy the BLOs, he or she could be called for a hearing. So, it is tough to say how many of the voters with logical discrepancies would be called for hearings,” said an official.
Letter to CM
Votekormi and BLO Aikya Moncha, an organisation of booth-level officers and other employees working with the EC, wrote a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday, urging her to send a proper report to the EC on the deaths of the BLOs who allegedly died because of the workload of the SIR to ensure that the families of the deceased got compensation from the poll panel.
This organisation, sources said, was different from the one that was carrying out agitation in front of the chief electoral officer’s office regularly.
“We have come to know that the state government did not send a detailed report on the deaths of some BLOs during the SIR to the EC. Until a proper report based on police investigation is sent to the poll panel, it is highly unlikely that the family of the deceased would get compensation from the government. This is why we have sent the letter,” said Swapan Mondal, general secretary of theorganisation.
The organisation claimed that about 10 BLOs’ deaths were linked to the workload during the SIR.