Kolkata: The Election Commission (EC) said on Thursday that only 6,000 of the 8,505 West Bengal government officials scheduled for the ongoing special intensive review (SIR) have reported, with the rest pending despite the February 10 Supreme Court deadline.
Not all officials said. 8,505 officers, who will be appointed as micro-observers, have reported so far (representative picture).The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, directed the state to report to the selection panel by 5 pm on February 10, allowing the EC to assess their suitability before appointing them as micro-observers.
“All of the 8,505 officials deployed as close observers have not reported so far. Only 6,000 officials have reported to the district election officers. The list includes around 500 officials who have already been deployed by the EC as Additional Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs). Only 50 names of some lower divisional officials have been sent to the state clerk. We have not received information from the state as we have sought details of all the officials who have reported so far,” said a senior EC official.
The EC is yet to receive the details of the officials who reported.
Also read: Extend West Bengal SIR deadline by ‘at least’ 1 week: Supreme Court directs Election Commission
No senior government official has commented on the development.
Banerjee had earlier alleged that the EC had appointed officials from other states as micro-observers in West Bengal. In his application, he said, it is an attempt to bulldoze Bengalis.
The EC, however, claimed that they were appointed as the state government failed to provide the required number of officers. On Monday, the state provided a list of 8,505 officers, which it said were all Group B officers.
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“The list of Group B employees submitted to the EC is strictly as per the existing pay-scale norms notified by the state finance department. Group ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ classification of state government employees are clearly defined as per the existing rules. No official statement prepared and submitted for the list of Group B employees states that these statements were not followed. Tuesday.
EROs and officers to assist EROs in SIR work should be trained as micro-observers before being appointed.
