West Bengal SIR: BLOs Demand More Time as Election Commission Pushes for Faster Voter Roll Update

The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal has triggered a state-wide debate as hundreds of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have formally requested an extension of deadlines, citing extreme workload, technical delays, and rising volume of voter applications. The Election Commission of India (ECI), however, is urging districts to speed up the process to ensure a clean and accurate voter list ahead of the upcoming elections.

The SIR exercise, which includes verification, correction, deletion and addition of voter entries, is one of the most crucial annual activities for maintaining electoral integrity in India. But this year, the ground situation in West Bengal has become unusually challenging. The Hindu

What Is SIR and Why It Matters for West Bengal

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is conducted every year to update:

• New voter additions (Form 6)
• Deletion of deceased / shifted voters (Form 7)
• Corrections in voter details (Form 8)
• Verification of address and identity
• House-to-house checks by BLOs

In West Bengal, the revision is particularly significant due to:

• High movement of migrant workers
• Dense urban clusters
• Rural-urban voter mobility
• Correction needs in bilingual voter rolls

A clean voter list is essential for fair elections, and the ECI has already instructed all districts to ensure maximum accuracy within the current timeline.

Why BLOs Are Asking for More Time

Across Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Murshidabad and several other districts, BLOs have made a collective demand: extend the SIR schedule by at least 15–20 days.

They cite four major challenges:

1. Heavy Door-to-Door Verification Load

A single BLO often manages more than 2,000–2,500 voters.
Each requires:

• Physical visit
• ID verification
• Address confirmation
• Document review

The workload has doubled compared to previous years, BLOs claim.

Surge in Form 6, 7 and 8 Submissions

This year, West Bengal has seen a massive increase in:

• New voter registrations
• Objections / deletions
• Corrections

BLOs say the volume of forms is “five to ten times more” than earlier cycles.

Technical Issues Slow Down the Process

The GARUDA App and ERO-Net portal—used for uploading details—are reportedly facing:

• System lag
• Slow OTP generation
• Server downtime
• OCR errors while scanning documents

This is forcing BLOs to repeat the process multiple times.

Complex Population Pockets

Districts like:

• Kolkata
• Metiabruz
• Garden Reach
• Siliguri
• Murshidabad

…have extremely dense populations, where revisiting households takes more time than usual.

What the Election Commission Has Said

Despite the challenges, the Election Commission has emphasised that:

“The SIR progress in West Bengal must be completed within the notified schedule to maintain electoral transparency.”

The Commission has:

• Directed DMs and EROs to monitor progress daily
• Asked supervisors to support BLOs
• Asked districts with delays to ramp up manpower

However, officials privately acknowledge that the ground load this year is significantly higher.

Current SIR Progress in West Bengal

The pace of SIR varies widely across districts.

Districts performing well:

• Nadia
• Burdwan
• South 24 Parganas
• Darjeeling

These areas report:

• High completion rate
• Faster approval cycles
• Better technical stability

Districts lagging behind:

• Kolkata
• North 24 Parganas
• Howrah
• Murshidabad
• Jalpaiguri

Reasons:

• Urban congestion
• High mobility
• More deletions and corrections
• BLO manpower shortage

Many of these districts filed formal requests for an extension.

How Voters Are Affected

The SIR impacts ordinary voters in several ways:

Positive Impact

• New 18+ voters get added quickly
• Old errors in names, age, gender, address are corrected
• Duplicate entries are cleaned
• A more reliable voter list is created

Challenges for Citizens

Some voters say:

• BLOs visited when they weren’t home
• Applications are pending due to technical errors
• Form approvals are delayed

Helpline numbers and online forms have been made available to help address this.

How BLOs Are Managing the Pressure

Despite the high workload, BLOs are adopting innovative strategies:

• Conducting early-morning and late-evening visits
• Setting up verification desks in local schools
• Using mobile hotspots for faster digital uploads
• Coordinating with supervisors for parallel checking
• Engaging community volunteers

These steps have improved progress in many booths.

What Happens Next in SIR

After the completion of field verification, the next phases include:

1. Draft Electoral Roll Release

This will show updated voter names booth-wise.

2. Public Objection Period

Voters may:

• Object to wrongful deletions
• Request corrections
• Submit missing documents

3. Final Voter List Publication

This frozen list will be used for all upcoming elections.

Ground-Level Challenges Still Unresolved

Even with progress, certain issues continue to concern both officers and voters:

• Shortage of BLOs per booth
• Tech-related disruptions
• Limited training in digital verification
• Massive rush of fresh voters (18–19 age group)
• Incomplete documents from households

Experts suggest the ECI should consider:

• Increasing temporary field staff
• Improving server capacity
• Providing district-level digital support teams

Conclusion

The Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal is at a critical point.
The Election Commission wants a strict and timely voter roll update, while BLOs—who form the backbone of this entire system—say the workload is beyond manageable within the current timeline.

What remains clear is this:

• A clean and accurate voter list is essential
• BLOs need more support and resources
• Voters must engage actively to ensure their details are correct

As West Bengal moves closer to key elections, the final days of the SIR exercise will determine how strong and reliable the electoral rolls will be for 2024–25.

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