All 143 Bengal BLOs report for duty after EC ultimatum; WB CEO site logs one crore hits, adds features to manage surge in SIR load

All 143 block-level officers have resumed their duties. SIR-related camps are now underway in Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, and Darjeeling. The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer's website has seen one crore hits. Special steps are being urged for former enclave residents to ensure their voting rights.

Kolkata: All the 143 block-level officers (BLOs), who were instructed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to resume SIR-related duty or face suspension, have reported for duty on Thursday. These BLOs hail from Murshidabad, Coochbehar and Kolkata (North) and are mainly school teachers.

"All the BLOs have joined duty. I have not received any report from the district magistrates on anyone not joining," a top official said. There are altogether 80,681 booths in Bengal with one BLO in each booth.

Meanwhile, SIR-related camps have started in Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and Darjeeling. The booth-matching process in these three districts could not be done earlier due to natural disasters caused by incessant rains and landslides.

A top official from the CEO's office said he has drawn the ECI's attention to the remarks made by a Trinamool MP, about the CEC and his family members. However, he noted that these are non-cognizable.

District-level meetings with recognised political parties were held in the presence of DEOs and other officials of North 24 Parganas district, people in the know said.

One-crore Hits

Following the announcement of the SIR in Bengal, one crore hits were reported on the West Bengal-Chief Electoral Officer's (WB-CEO's) website till date. However, due to immense pressure on the server, the WB-CEO's office has decided to appoint a State Data Centre (SDC) to upgrade the server and ensure smooth running of the website during SIR, a top official told ET.

At present, National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), which is the technology partner of the Central government, maintained and worked as technology partner of the ECI and West Bengal CEO's portal.

Enclaves' Issues Raised

Parijayee Shramik Aikya Manch (Migrant Labourer Unity Forum-West Bengal) has written a letter to the WB-CEO, urging him to take special steps to help the residents of enclaves in Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri.

Asif Faruk, state general secretary of Migrant Labourer Unity Forum, pointed out the difficulties faced by residents of the former enclaves (Chhit Mahals) in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri during the ongoing SIR.

Faruk urged the Agarwal to "formulate special verification guidelines for the residents of the former enclaves, taking into account their unique historical and administrative circumstances, accept alternative documents-such as 2015 Land Boundary Agreement records, certificates issued by the local administration, and panchayat residency proofs-as valid evidence of Indian citizenship and ensure that no genuine Indian citizen is deprived of their constitutional right to vote due to the unavailability of old documents."
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Source: EconomicTimes
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