Sex workers in Kolkata's Sonagachi seek relief from SIR rules, write to Bengal CEO

Kolkata, Nov 21 (PTI) Gripped by fear and confusion over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, sex workers in Sonagachi, Asia's largest red-light district, have written to the state's chief electoral officer, pleading for relief from rules they say are impossible for them to meet.

Three organisations working with sex workers and their children, Society for Human Development and Social Action, Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited, and Amra Padatik, emailed a letter to CEO Manoj Agarwal on Friday, warning that hundreds risk exclusion from the voters' list due to the 2002-document requirement.

Home to nearly 10,000 sex workers, Sonagachi is now gripped by deep anxiety, residents say.

Many fear the documents they are being asked to produce, especially proof of family details from the 2002 electoral rolls, simply do not exist for them.

"Most women here came after fleeing violence, poverty or broken marriages. Many have no contact with their families. How will they find 2002 records of parents or grandparents?" asked Mahesweta Mukhopadhyay of Amra Padatik, which works with sex workers' children.

The organisations say the problem is structural, not political. Many workers came from rural Bengal or neighbouring states before 2002. Several left home without papers. Many never returned, fearing stigma. In some cases, families still don't know the women's current profession.

One sex worker, who arrived in Sonagachi 17 years ago with a toddler, said she feels "helpless".

"My husband abandoned me. I came here with my son. He got his voter ID last year. His father is not in the picture. I cannot produce any 2002 papers from my family. What will we do now?" she said.

The letter also points out a sharp contradiction. Many sex workers benefit from state welfare schemes such as Lakshmir Bhandar or widow pensions.

"If the government accepts us for welfare, why should our citizenship be questioned now?" one of the signatories asked.

The organisations reminded the CEO that in 2007, the then state election commissioner issued voter ID cards to hundreds of sex workers on the basis of records maintained by the Usha Cooperative, a bank created and run by sex workers.

Many fear those IDs may now be invalidated.

The letter warns that the challenge may extend to the next generation. Many adult children of sex workers lack birth certificates because of "adverse circumstances".

The groups fear these young adults may also be dropped during the SIR exercise.

"We want to be clear: sex workers are not against SIR. They simply want empathy," Mahesweta said.

"A rigid process will push thousands into uncertainty." The appeal seeks three key interventions: acceptance of alternative ID documents, special assistance camps in Sonagachi for enumeration, and protection of existing voter cards of sex workers and their family members.

"We fear legitimate voters will be left out. Cancelling their cards will further marginalised them," the organisations wrote, adding that the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld sex workers' fundamental rights as citizens.

Inside Sonagachi's narrow lanes, the mood is tense but hopeful. Workers say they want the Commission to recognise their lived reality, a life often marked by displacement, stigma and survival.

"Will SIR bring clarity or a crisis?" a volunteer at Usha Cooperative asked. "That depends entirely on how the Commission responds." PTI PNT MNB