SIR hearing: Notices to be issued from Dec 18

Kolkata, Dec 17 (PTI) The Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) of West Bengal will begin issuing notices for hearing from Thursday, marking the next phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), an official said.

He said that at the initial stage, hearing notices are likely to be issued to around 32 lakh unmapped voters -- those whose details could not be linked with the 2002 SIR data but whose names appear in the draft electoral rolls for 2026.

"Being included in the draft electoral rolls does not necessarily mean that a voter will not be called for a hearing, though the process in their case may be comparatively simpler. The EROs will begin issuing hearing notices from the morning of December 18," he said on Wednesday.

Two copies of the hearing notice will be issued, he said.

"One copy will be handed over to the voter concerned, while the other will be retained by the Booth Level Officer after obtaining the voter's signature. Voters will be given some time after receiving the notice to appear for the hearing, which is likely to begin soon," the official said.

The hearings will be conducted at government offices, including those of the district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrates and block development officers, he said.

The screening of cases involving logical discrepancies is also underway, and as a result, the final number of voters who will receive hearing notices is not yet clear, the poll body official said.

"Officials are advising voters to keep ready the 11 documents specified by the Election Commission for verification," he said.

Meanwhile, the state's Special Roll Observer, Subrata Gupta, is likely to pay a visit to North Bengal ahead of Christmas to review the SIR work in the districts there, an official said.

"The visit is aimed at assessing the progress and implementation of the SIR in the region," he said. PTI SCH NN