The EC has asked all state government system managers, assistant system managers and computer operators deployed to it to submit undertakings declaring they would not entertain applications for inclusion to or deletion from the electoral roll through login credentials of their superiors after one of them did so in Kakdwip, South 24-Parganas.
“The poll panel has asked all those who enter data and manage the system for revision of the electoral roll to sign an undertaking and submit it to the EC declaring that they would not indulge in any kind of malpractice by using the login credentials of assistant election registration officers (AEROs) or the EROs.… If anyone is found guilty of misconduct, stern measures would be initiated against him/her,” said a source in the poll panel.
In Bengal, there are about 170 system managers, assistant system managers and computer operators who update the electoral roll throughout the year.
“But they cannot dispose of any application on their own…. Their duty is to assist the AEROs or EROs during electoral roll revision,” said an official.
Recently, the chief electoral officer of Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, suspended one assistant system manager, Arun Gorain, who was posted in Kakdwip subdivision for disposing of applications submitted for inclusion or deletion of names by using the login credential of the AERO of the Kakdwip Assembly segment.
The EC asking system managers, assistant managers and computer operators for an undertaking sends a stern message to all those involved in the electoral roll summary revision scheduled to start in October.
“The EC is leaving no stone unturned to make the electoral rolls error-free…. It has asked booth-level officers to keep their records updated so that new voters could be included in their booths during the electoral roll revision. At the same time, names of dead and shifted voters are deleted,” said an official.
The EC stressed that system managers, assistant system managers and computer operators did not come in the way of a clean voter list.
“These employees were flying under radar as nobody thought they could manipulate the voter list by using login credentials of officers entrusted for the job.... As soon as one such employee was found to be manipulating the electoral roll, the poll panel took stern measures to ensure that such misconduct is not repeated,” said a poll panel source.
Sources said these employees were appointed through an exam conducted by the West Bengal Public Service Commission in 2007-08.
“As it is evident that they can manipulate the electoral roll, they will be under scanner," a bureaucrat said.