SIR queues end, micro-observers check docus uploaded by BLOs

Kolkata: After completing the hearing for the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal, micro-observers are now scrutinising the electors' enumeration forms and documents uploaded by BLOs and AEROs, and marking their observations in cases that do not conform to the Election Commission's rules and guidelines.This comes in the backdrop of the continued stand-off between the EC and the Bengal govt over the appointment of 8,505 additional staff to the EC to oversee the scrutiny and hearing.
According to a senior EC official, the micro-observers will have to further check 50 lakh out of 1.5 crore documents of unmapped and logical discrepancies electors. "Micro-observers have, so far, scrutinised about one crore documents and flagged over 10 lakh cases that don't conform to the EC's rules and guidelines and the Supreme Court order. They need to check another 50 lakh cases, of which the DEOs already verified 35 lakh," the official said. The EC appointed over 8,000 micro-observers in Bengal's SIR exercise. Previously, micro-observers were only engaged in checking documents at the hearing centres and, from Feb 2, they were involved in the scrutiny process. The scrutiny of electors' documents will have to be wound up by Feb 21, as per the EC's schedule. On Sunday, several BLOs said that the EC is sending back several electors' enumeration forms and documents after scrutiny, and they were asked to get the documents specified by the commission for the SIR exercise. A BLO in Howrah told TOI that the enumeration forms and documents of as many as 26 electors were sent back till afternoon. "Upon scrutiny, the EC officials deemed the documents of these electors improper, and I have to collect from them the EC-specified documents and upload them afresh," said the BLO, requesting anonymity. Another BLO in Tollygunge, Arup Mondal, said, "As my supervisor told me, we do not need to be present during the scrutiny of the documents. If objections are raised, we have to seek documents afresh from the electors and upload them again. Till last night, I uploaded all the documents of the electors who attended the SIR hearing." Even as the hearing of electors summoned for unmapping and logical discrepancies was wrapped up on Saturday, some BLOs said that they were yet to finish uploading the documents, the scrutiny of which is going on now.