West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal has instructed booth-level officers (BLOs) involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to meticulously re-check enumeration forms and ensure the deletion of names of all deceased, absent or duplicate voters before the first phase concludes on December 11.
The deadline for completing the first phase of the SIR, earlier set for December 4, has been extended to December 11.
In his communication to BLOs, Agarwal emphasised the need for "utmost care" while uploading voter data.
"You must ensure every single dead/absent/duplicate voter’s name is deleted from the voter list as the Election Commission aims to keep every eligible voter’s name and delete every ineligible one. There should not be any mistake, inadvertently or otherwise,” Agarwal said on Thursday.
He further cautioned that any "intentional mistake" would lead to legal action by the commission.
According to a senior official in the CEO’s office, only seven polling booths have so far reported that they had no dead or shifted voters in the past year—a sharp fall from the initial figure of 2,208, which later dropped to 480 two days ago.
The updated figure followed instructions from the CEO’s office to districts to "thoroughly re-check" their numbers before submitting them, the official said.
In his note, Agarwal reminded BLOs that they are on deputation to the Election Commission for the SIR and bear responsibility for critical verification tasks.
He also expressed appreciation for "those BLOs who have done a commendable job", adding that "no word is enough to praise them".
However, the CEO’s message did not address the BLO Oikyo Manch’s claim that four BLOs had died over the past month due to stress and tight deadlines during the SIR process, nor did it mention compensation for their families.
A deputy CEO had earlier stated that district election officers have been directed to file reports on the alleged incidents and determine the actual cause of the deaths.