SIR in Bengal: CEO holds review meeting, seeks foolproof security for BLOs

Election Commission

A day before the rollout of the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Monday held a meeting with all district magistrates as a part of their last-minute preparation, an official said.

In the meeting, the district officials were directed to ensure the security of the BLOs during their visits to the various houses for the SIR, he said.

Block Level Officers (BLOs) and other officials have been instructed to conduct house-to-house visits starting Tuesday and carry out the process without fear.

"The CEO held a virtual meeting with all the DMs and issued necessary instructions before the formal rollout of SIR tomorrow," the official said.

"The meeting also took stock of preparations for the exercise, which will involve 80,681 BLOs, with an additional 14,000 BLOs deployed to support the process. The review was aimed at ensuring that the SIR process proceeds smoothly, securely, and efficiently across the state," he said.

A total of 7,66,37,529 enumeration forms have been prepared for 294 Assembly constituencies, printed in two copies each, he said while elaborating the process, starting Tuesday.

So far, 2,45,71,114 mappings have been completed, accounting for 32.06 per cent of the electorate, he said.

"House-to-house enumeration will be conducted from November 4 to December 4, when the BLOs will distribute unique enumeration forms to electors and assist in verification of details of individuals against the last SIR conducted in 2002," the official said.

Electors can fill these enumeration forms in print or online, he said, while elaborating the process.