Kolkata: Amid rising concern over the demand for legacy documents from the 2002 SIR cycle, Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal met representatives of Sonagachi sex workers and assured them that their voting rights would remain protected. A special enrollment camp is likely to be organised soon.
Representatives said Agarwal promised to intervene if the ongoing SIR verification process created barriers for sex workers or their children. He also indicated that, if required, he would exercise his special powers to ensure voter ID cards are issued without discrimination—similar to the 2007 precedent, when voter cards in Sonagachi were approved using records maintained by the Usha Multipurpose Co-operative Society.
The meeting followed an urgent appeal from three organisations—the Society of Human Development and Social Action, Usha Multipurpose Co-operative Society Ltd, and Amra Padatik—who warned that most sex workers cannot produce 20-year-old documents due to migration, estrangement from families, or the need to conceal their occupation. “We have received reports that the sex workers of these areas are filling up the forms. In case they need any hand-holding we would extend our support. We came to know that many of them couldn’t find any linkage to the 2002 voter lists,” a senior
official in the CEO’s office said on Wednesday.
Sonagachi houses nearly 10,000 sex workers, of whom around 7,000 are long-term residents and regular voters.
Many questioned why their citizenship is being scrutinised despite being enrolled in welfare schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar, Bidhaba
Bhata, for years. “I came here with my son 17 years ago. I have no papers from 2002. I am very worried,” said one worker.