Bengal SIR: EC To Begin Training Of Poll Officials From Tuesday For Electoral Roll Revision Exercise

In the direction of conducting a special intensive revision in West Bengal, the Election Commission is expected to begin training for poll officers from Tuesday, a senior official said.

The poll body is planning the electoral rolls revision in the state as the Assembly elections are due next year. The Bengal Chief Election Officer and the Additional CEOs are likely to lead the training session.

News agency PTI quoted the senior official, saying, "State CEO Manoj Agarwal, along with Additional CEOs Dibyendu Das and Arindam Neogi, are expected to lead Tuesday's training session. The aim is to ensure that the trainers are well-equipped to guide booth-level officers (BLOs) on how to carry out the voter list revision process smoothly and accurately".

The official further added that the Assistant district magistrates (ADMs) and the electoral registration officers (EROs) from across the state would be trained in the coming days, the official said.

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"These officials will then train the BLOs, who are responsible for direct voter outreach at the grassroots level," he added.

The BLO training will start after the ADM and ERO training is complete. As part of the training, the BLOs will receive detailed instructions on assisting voters in filling requisite forms during the SIR drive, he said.

"The BLOs are expected to visit households across the state to verify details and ensure proper documentation is in place. This is part of the pre-SIR groundwork," the official said.

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Later this week, Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti is scheduled to visit Kolkata. During his visit, he will review preparations and oversee the rollout of the revision exercise, he said.

During a meeting with ADMs in Kolkata, the officials were asked to begin voter mapping activities at the district level. Among the key directives was to compare the 2002 voter list with the electoral rolls published in January 2025.

The SIR was last time conducted in 2002. "By cross-verifying voters who were listed in 2002, we hope to reduce hassles, particularly for elderly voters, who may otherwise face difficulty proving their eligibility," the official added.

(With PTI Inputs)