Bengal: ‘6 crore SIR forms digitised so far, about 26 lakh yet to match’

Kolkata: The Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office said on Wednesday that 6 crore enumeration forms have been digitised so far, of which 26 lakh are yet to match.

The CEO expressed confidence that at the current pace the digitisation process will be completed within four to five days—well ahead of the Election Commission’s December 4 deadline.

Amid the intense workload of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the election machinery also showed a humane side after the mother of a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Beleghata Assembly Constituency was hospitalised.

Mrityunjay Patra, a BLO under 164-Beleghata AC, had earlier been issued two showcause notices by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for dereliction of duty related to SIR work. On Wednesday morning, he informed the ERO that his mother had been hospitalised with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) symptoms and that this would affect his ability to carry out SIR duties.

Following instructions from the ERO, the Assistant ERO (AERO) and the Supervisor visited the hospital at 4 pm to meet Patra and his mother. A senior official in the CEO office said they assured the family of all possible support. “We are with the BLO and his family to help them through the situation and ensure smooth completion of SIR work,” the official said. The BLO and his mother have thanked the AERO, Supervisor and ERO for their assistance.

The CEO office has also been releasing videos showcasing BLOs who have completed 100 per cent of their SIR responsibilities.

Meanwhile, the family of BLO Namita Hansda of Memari in East Burdwan—who allegedly died of a brain stroke brought on by intense workload during the enumeration drive—met the CEO. He informed them that the post-mortem and police report are awaited from the district electoral officer, and once received, he will forward the case to the Election Commission with a recommendation for compensation if work pressure is confirmed as the cause.

The Election Commission has deployed three officers from other states to supervise SIR work in Bengal. BC Patra in the rank of Principal Secretary, Soumyojit Ghosh in the rank of secretary and Vibhor Agarwal in the rank of under secretary will be reaching the state in a day or two. They will work under the supervision and control of state CEO Manoj Agarwal and will remain in state till SIR work gets over.