Don’t harass people during voter list revision: Mamata tells officials, terms drive ‘political’

Bolpur: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday directed officials to ensure that people are not harassed during the electoral rolls revision and accused the BJP and EC of trying to remove genuine electors targeting Bengali-speaking migrants, minorities, OBCs, and the poor under the guise of voters' list cleansing.

Addressing an administrative review meeting at Gitanjali Stadium in Bolpur in Birbhum district, Banerjee attacked the EC amid the growing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which is already underway in neighbouring Bihar where assembly elections are due this year.

“The Election Commission takes over only after the poll dates are announced. Until then, and even after that, the administrative responsibility rests with the state. You are employees of the state government. Do not harass any individual needlessly,” Banerjee told booth-level officers (BLOs) present at the meeting.

Urging officials to ensure that no long-time voter is arbitrarily removed from the rolls, she said, “Suppose a boy goes on a vacation for four days, will you remove his name? Is that fair? There are people who’ve been voters in this state for years. Just because someone is away for a few days doesn’t mean you strike off their names.

The chief minister alleged that the ongoing exercise in Bihar, which she said could be replicated in West Bengal, is a “deliberate, politically motivated act” to exclude Bengali-speaking people and others deemed "undesirable".

“Not just religious minorities, the poor and OBCs are being targeted by them (the BJP). We must stand by all persecuted Bengali migrants,” Banerjee said, announcing a state-run scheme to assist migrant workers from Bengal who have faced harassment in other states and have returned home.

“The scheme must include provisions to help them return safely, issue ration and job cards, and provide temporary shelters to those without a place to stay,” she said. “There’s no need to depend on agents or touts to get jobs outside the state. When they face abuse, these agents are nowhere to be found.

Banerjee said the state would provide ration cards, Swasthya Sathi health cards, and 100-day jobs under the Karmashree programme to returnees.

“If they have a place to stay, good. If not, we will set up camps for them,” she added.

According to her, around 22 lakh people from Bengal are currently working in other states.

“Bring them all back now,” she said, directing TMC Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam, who heads the state’s Migrant Worker Cell, to take charge of the repatriation effort.

She also asked Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to coordinate the matter with Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak.

She recalled how her government had brought back thousands of migrant workers at its own expense during the COVID-19 pandemic and provided them with food and work.

“Back then, we stood by our people. Today, we are seeing our workers being branded as Bangladeshis and sent to detention camps. This cannot continue,” Banerjee asserted.

Her comments came against the backdrop of allegations of widespread harassment and detention of Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan, a development that has triggered political outrage and anxiety among families back home in Bengal.

Meanwhile, the CM expressed dismay over the lack of communication from the bureaucracy regarding BLO training sessions being conducted in connection with the electoral rolls revision.

“I was not informed about the training in Delhi. Around 1,000 state government officials from Bengal were sent there for training. Neither I nor the chief secretary was told anything. DMs must keep their eyes and ears open. We should have been informed. This is unacceptable,” she said, delivering a sharp reprimand to the senior officials present at the meeting.

BLO training has also been underway in Kolkata, with a session held recently at Nazrul Mancha involving officials from over 100 blocks across Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas, and Murshidabad. While the Election Commission has not formally announced any SIR exercise in West Bengal yet, TMC is apprehensive that the state is likely to be included soon.

Apart from the electoral roll issue, Banerjee also reviewed progress in various state-run welfare and development schemes during the administrative meeting.

Under the “Aamar Para, Aamar Samadhan” (My Neighbourhood, My Solution) initiative, set to run for 60 days from August 2, local civic and security issues will be addressed by grassroots teams comprising police and panchayat functionaries.

She also called for speedy implementation of the piped water scheme “Jalswapna”, noting that while 98.49 lakh households have benefited so far, the target is to cover 1.75 crore families.

Claiming that the Centre has withheld funds for the scheme, Banerjee appealed to MPs and MLAs to contribute from their development funds.