SILIGURI: Several political parties raised multiple concerns related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process during an all-party meeting convened by the Darjeeling district administration in Siliguri on Tuesday. Manish Mishra, District Magistrate (DM) of Darjeeling joined the meeting virtually, while Vikas Ruhala, the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Siliguri and representatives of various political parties were present at the SDO office.
According to details shared during the meeting, the district currently has 12,92,857 registered voters. Of them, 11,46,000 voters’ SIR forms have already been digitised, while 88,883 forms are yet to be submitted. Around 43,000 forms remain pending for digitisation.
Political representatives raised issues related to the overall SIR process, including the roles of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and Booth Level Agents (BLAs), and alleged irregularities in the digitisation process. Several parties complained that many booths were unable to appoint BLAs.
In response, the Election Commission has reportedly modified its guidelines, allowing political parties to appoint BLAs from anywhere within the same Assembly constituency, rather than restricting appointments to the concerned booth.
Another major concern raised was the use of outsourced agencies for digitising SIR forms. Parties alleged that instead of government staff or Election Commission personnel, private agencies were handling the digitisation work, increasing the chances of errors. Representatives also demanded that the speed of digitisation be increased to ensure timely completion.
Suprakash Roy, Trinamool Congress leader said: “The SIR work in the district is progressing well, but some digitisation tasks are still pending. We have urged the administration to complete the process quickly.”
Saradindu Chakraborty, CPI(M) councillor expressed apprehension: “We are concerned about the digitisation work. We don’t know where it is being carried out, and an external agency is handling it. Moreover, the Election Commission keeps issuing different guidelines, causing confusion regarding BLA appointments.”
BJP youth wing president Arijit Das added: “In many areas, BLOs are not collecting forms. We have raised these issues as well.”