The Election Commission of India (ECI) has pulled up many district authorities, including from Calcutta and South 24-Parganas, for being “underprepared” for Bengal state polls scheduled to begin from March 27.

The reprimand came during a videoconference between deputy election commissioner Sudeep Jain and district authorities on Thursday.

“Jain has pulled up officials primarily for three reasons. First, non-completion of vulnerability mapping. Second, lack of interest in visiting temporary structures where polling booths will be set up this year. Third, a large number of licensed firearms were not deposited in the government's armoury with exemptions given by authorities without showing valid reasons. Jain has given seven days to plug the loopholes,” a senior government official present in the videoconference said.

Jain expressed his displeasure as most of the district authorities during the meeting apparently failed to produce a list of vulnerable areas.

“This (the list) is important because based on vulnerability mapping by the police, central forces are deployed (in those areas) for confidence-building measures. The ECI deployed 125 companies of central forces even before poll dates were declared. As vulnerability mapping was not done properly, the forces could not be used properly,” said a source.

Jain reportedly expressed surprise after a few districts could not properly explain primary parameters based on which vulnerable areas are identified, sources said.

A source said that vulnerable areas were identified primarily based on past history of inducement or violent incidents. “Moreover, he was not satisfied with some districts that have shown very few vulnerable areas such as South 24-Parganas,” said a source.

The deputy election commissioner also pulled up authorities responsible for holding polls in Bengal after he found most temporary structures where polling booths would be set up were not surveyed by the police or civil administration.

“The state will have nearly 3,000 temporary polling stations as the ECI issued a guideline that all booths have to be set up on the ground floor. A visit to these structures is important to assess security requirements,” said an official.

The third issue that Jain pointed out was that authorities in some districts were liberal in allowing licensed firearm holders to keep arms.

“Jain found that in some districts about 25 per cent firearms holders were allowed to keep their guns (exempting them from rule). For example, about 1,300 firearms holders of 4,000-odd owners were exempted from the rule in Calcutta. He pointed out that no valid reason was shown as to why so many owners were allowed to keep their guns,” said an official.

The meeting, sources said, clearly suggests that the ECI was keeping close watch on each development in Bengal ahead of polls.

A senior state government official said that in view of the current charged political atmosphere, the ECI was facing a challenge in holding a peaceful election in Bengal but “it seems it won’t leave any stone unturned to hold free, fair and incident-free polls”.