Another issue that has been brought to the attention of the EC by the state CEO's office is that there are many families in the state in which the children have Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe (SC-ST) certificates, but the parents lack it.
Even as electors are summoned for “logical discrepancies” as part of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for electoral rolls in West Bengal, sources said that at least 11,500 more names have been deleted so far as part of the “mapping exercise”.
The Election Commission had deleted over 58 lakh names when it released the draft roll last month. Since then, the Election Commission first took the “mapping exercise” — matching the names of the electors or any of their relatives’ names with the SIR 2002 list. It was followed by issuing summons to electors for “logical discrepancies”, such as the age difference between the electors and their parents is less than 16 years or they have more than six children.
According to sources in the state Chief Electoral Office, most of the names “deleted” in the mapping exercise are from Nadia district, which is dominated by the Matua community, who came to India from Bangladesh in waves, beginning from 1947.
According to sources, around 31 lakh voters were found who were not mapped with the 2002 SIR list. They were first called in for hearing. EC sources said that out of the non-mapped voters, around 11,500 voters failed to produce any documents during the hearing to prove that they were genuine voters of the state.
So far, the EC has generated 65,78,058 notices, out of which 32,49,091 have been served to the elector.
However, EC sources said the number of notices might be increased as all “logical discrepancies” cases have not been served notice yet.
“EC may generate notices for 74,19,356 electors in the coming week for many types of logical discrepancies,” an EC official said.
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Meanwhile, the state CEO has made two proposals to the Election Commission in order to not disenfranchise genuine voters due to lack of documents.
“These proposals have been made keeping in mind the humanitarian grounds and the practical situation. We found that many women did not have any of the 11 documents prescribed for the SIR. Even in the voter list of 2002, their names were not found. But it was found that their husbands were state and central government employees. In many cases, they are receiving regular government pension after the death of their husbands,” said an official.
Therefore, the CEO’s office has proposed that the names of such women should not be removed from the voters’ list simply because of a lack of necessary documents. Their argument is that the government pension document itself is a credible document. Based on that document, the names of these electors can be included in the final voter list.
Another issue that has been brought to the attention of the EC by the state CEO’s office is that there are many families in the state in which the children have Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe (SC-ST) certificates, but the parents lack it.
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“In the past, many did not get such documents as there was not much need. It is not logical to exclude the names of those parents from the voters’ list merely because of the absence of certificates. Therefore, in this case too, a special concession has been recommended to the Election Commission. The CEO’s office has recommended that, on the basis of children’s certificates, their parents should also be included in the final voters’ list.
Atri Mitra is a highly accomplished Special Correspondent for The Indian Express, bringing over 20 years of experience to his reporting. His work is characterized by deep regional knowledge and a focus on critical administrative and political developments, establishing strong Expertise and Authority in his domain.
Experience
Current Role: Special Correspondent, The Indian Express.
Decades of Experience: Over two decades of extensive reporting experience, primarily covering administration and political news.
Geographical Focus: Holds significant reporting experience from West Bengal, Bihar, and the North-East, providing a comprehensive understanding of the socio-political landscape in these regions.
Key Coverage: Has dedicated more than ten years to covering administration and political news, with a keen focus on political developments in West Bengal.
Electoral Reporting: Demonstrated a commitment to crucial political moments, having covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections during his time at Anandabazar Patrika, and the 2019 Bihar Lok Sabha election while working with News18-Bangla.
Career Foundation: Began his career at the leading vernacular daily Anandabazar Patrika, where he worked for more than fifteen years, including a three-year stint as the Bihar correspondent.
Education
Advanced Degree: Holds a Master's degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University, providing an analytical framework for his political and administrative reporting.
Undergraduate Education: Holds a Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University.
Prestigious Alumni: His educational background includes attending esteemed institutions: he is an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
Atri Mitra's decades of dedicated reporting, substantial focus on political and administrative beats, and solid academic credentials make him a trusted and authoritative source for news and analysis from Eastern and North-Eastern India. ... Read More
