Eighty-five-year-old Purnima Roy and 83-year-old Om Prakash Jalan are incapable of standing without assistance, but both were obligated to attend an SIR hearing in Baguiati in person on the last day of 2025.

Purnima arrived in a rickshaw that drove directly to the public works department (PWD) office, where the hearing was taking place on the ground floor. Subsequently, she was placed in a wheelchair to reach the hearing desk, which was approximately 20 steps away.

Jalan was lucky to find a chair where some others in the queue had made him sit. He was wobbly but managed to walk with support from his son and others.

“My father is 83. It is a shame that he has to come to a hearing to prove that he is a genuine voter and an Indian after living here for 83 years. He has voted in all elections,” said Manish Jalan, Om Prakash’s son. The Jalans are residents of Baguiati’s Shyamnagar.

Purnima’s son, Sandip Roy, had tried a home hearing for her. “I went to her doctor
for a certificate that would mention that she had fractured her leg and should not walk, but the doctor was not available. I did not take a risk and brought her to the centre,” he said.

Purnima said it would have been better if someone had come to her home. “I cannot walk because of the fracture,” she said.

Elderly voters at SIR camp

On Monday, the Election Commission issued detailed guidelines on conducting hearings at home for voters aged 85 or above, expecting mothers and those who are seriously ill. According to the EC, these hearings will be held in the last two weeks of the hearing and verification exercise, which will continue till February 7.

Contrary to the EC’s assertion, the SIR hearing camps in the city were still having many elderly and ailing visitors on Wednesday. Their presence in the camp showed that the Election Commission’s message for home hearing had not trickled down to the ground.

The Baguiati camp had many others in wheelchairs, and at least one man walking with a crutch.

A Trinamool Congress leader, the party had scores of volunteers outside the Baguiati centre, said they have kept four wheelchairs for the elderly and the ailing.

“We have four wheelchairs, drinking water facilities, photocopying machines and
printers for voters in our camps. Our volunteers are helping anyone who needs help,” said Debraj Chakraborty, a councillor and a mayoral council member of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.

Some of those who attended hearings on Wednesday said they were called for just omitting the middle name of a “relative” while filling out the enumeration form.

Lalit Sharma, 47, who works in the sales division of a private company, was summoned for a hearing at Ganabhaban in Darjipara, near Beadon Street, despite having his name on the 2002 list.

“My name features on the 2002 list. I was summoned because, while filling out the enumeration form, I wrote my mother’s name without her middle name. In the 2002 list, her name was Urmila Devi Sharma, while I wrote Urmila Sharma,” said Lalit, who was visibly displeased for being called for the hearing.

“Then what is the point of taking the 2002 list as a reference?” he asked.

Lalit said he was on a vacation at Amritsar when his BLO called him and asked him to appear for the hearing the next day. “The call came five days back. I returned at 4am today (Wednesday). I had to skip work to attend the hearing,” he said.