SIR: ‘Bengal crosses 87.9% digitisation, 99.8% form distribution’
Kolkata: With only five days remaining for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process to conclude on December 4, West Bengal has recorded a steady rise in the collection and digitisation of enumeration forms.
According to the Election Commission’s latest bulletins, the state has distributed 76485274 (99.80%) forms while digitisation reached 63538971 (82.91%) entries as on November 27. Friday’s data shows further progress, with 67368444 (87.91%) forms digitised while distribution reached 76505985, which means 99.83 per cent—reflecting a continuous rise even as field teams rush to complete the remaining workload. Officials in the CEO’s office said that the final-week push is critical to ensuring the accuracy of the electoral roll ahead of the next revision cycle.
Amid this ongoing exercise, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, has issued a fresh directive allowing political parties, their affiliated organisations, and civil society groups to seek pre-scheduled appointments with the CEO for election-related discussions. The move, driven by an Election Commission instruction, aims to streamline communication channels and ensure that operational issues can be addressed without last-minute disruptions.
According to the press note, the CEO’s office already engages with party representatives and civil groups on a regular basis, but frequent walk-in requests often clash with pre-fixed engagements such as conferences, meetings, and district tours. To avoid logistical hurdles, stakeholders have been advised to request appointments in advance and clearly specify the issues they wish to raise, along with the composition of their delegation.
The directive reiterates the CEO office’s commitment to serving the democratic process in a “just and better way,” emphasising that structured, timely dialogue with stakeholders is essential—especially at a time when the state machinery is simultaneously handling the intensive enumeration and digitisation workload.
