How will migrant workers working in other states or West Bengal voters staying in other states or countries for medical treatment, studies, or work physically appear when called for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearings? Many voters staying in other states had raised questions about this. Several parties, including Trinamool, had also become vocal about this issue. Now there's a new complication regarding resolving that complexity!
According to sources, differences have emerged between the Election Commission (EC) and the state Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office regarding the hearing procedure for such voters. The CEO office wants to create a portal and arrange hearings for these voters through it. On the other hand, the Commission wants to arrange for document submission to a specific WhatsApp number.
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According to the information technology officials of the National Election Commission, creating a portal for hearings of these voters within a short time will not be easy. Rather, if arrangements are made for document submission on WhatsApp, there will be less complexity. However, the CEO office has already prepared the outline of the proposed portal to simplify the task. Once it is launched, this portal can be accessed from the 'ECI-Net' app itself. The matter of ensuring attendance at hearings can be easily confirmed by sitting at any cyber cafe or from mobile phones.
What the proposed CEO portal would require?
In the portal proposed by the CEO office, residents of West Bengal engaged in various works in other states, from migrant workers, will have to upload their photograph, EPIC number, appropriate documents, their signature, and also mention the name of a close relative living at the address in the state where their name currently appears in the voter list. Of course, it must be ensured that the relative's name is in the draft list. Additionally, they will have to mention the address where they stay or work in the other state, and if it's a workplace, the name of the organization's official or the house owner's name. So that the Commission can verify information about them as needed. If this is done, it will be easier for District Electoral Officers or Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to work. Again, if WhatsApp groups or numbers are launched, it's not clear how the work will be done.
Meanwhile, state CEO Manoj Agarwal again expressed displeasure on Wednesday regarding the presence of elderly and sick voters at SIR hearing centers. He has also warned of filing FIRs at police stations against the concerned Booth Level Officers (BLOs). His clear statement is, 'BLOs are forgetting that they are representatives of the Election Commission.
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Some of them are directly doing politics and trying to embarrass the Commission. The Commission has issued government guidelines stating that elderly and sick people do not need to appear for hearings. EROs and AEROs will go to their homes and conduct hearings. Even after this, if they have to appear at hearing centers, FIRs will be filed against the concerned BLOs.'
On this day, a Trinamool delegation met with the CEO and complained that a death procession is going on around the hearings. BLOs at the grassroots level are not following instructions. They also requested the Commission for publicity regarding this.
