Ahead of electoral roll update, ECI officials to hold review meetings in Bengal

Kolkata, Oct 7 (PTI) As preparations begin for the roll-out of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, senior officials from the Election Commission of India (ECI) are set to visit the state for two days since October 8, to take stock of the groundwork being laid across key districts, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Leading the visit will be Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, who will be accompanied by Director General (IT) Seema Khanna and other senior officials from the poll panel, he added.

Assembly elections are due in the state next year.

"During their two-day visit, scheduled for October 8 and 9, a series of meetings will be held with district-level election officials to closely review the state's readiness ahead of the electoral roll update," an official of the Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office said.

Bharti is also expected to hold a meeting via video conference with all District Election Officers (DEOs) on Wednesday to assess the progress of various pre-revision activities.

"There will be discussions on the mapping of the 2002 electoral roll with that of 2025, the appointment and training of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and the status of disposal of various forms," the official said, adding that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been directed to attend the meeting from their respective district headquarters.

Later on Wednesday, the team's first physical meeting will be held at the Zilla Parishad Auditorium in Rajarhat near here, where officials involved in the voter roll process, from EROs to BLOs, will come together for a detailed assessment of current progress and outstanding challenges on the ground, he stated.

A second meeting is scheduled for the evening, where senior district officials will present their preparedness reports, the poll body official added.

"These discussions will go beyond statistics. They are expected to address practical concerns such as personnel training, IT infrastructure, and inter-departmental coordination at the local level," the official noted.

The exercise will continue the following day, when the ECI delegation is scheduled to travel to Kolaghat to review preparedness with officials from Purba Medinipur, Bankura, and Jhargram.

State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal will accompany the ECI team throughout the visits and the meetings.

"District Election Officers have been instructed to ensure that all concerned officials attend the meetings without delay and submit detailed presentations outlining their SIR-2026 preparations by Tuesday," the official said, describing the visit as part of a "routine administrative exercise". PTI SCH NN