While a few states undergoing the SIR exercise sought more time to complete it, the Chief Election Officer in West Bengal had made no such requests, implying the process in the state is following the timeline. The ground reality, though, looks different.
According to district-wise statistics published in the Commission's own "Notice and Hearing Report," lakhs of voters in West Bengal are still awaiting hearings. This has raised serious questions about whether it is even possible to publish the final electoral roll within the stipulated time. Assembly elections in the state are likely to be held within the next few months.
According to official data, 6,578,058 SIR notices have been generated in Bengal for hearings, of which 32,49,091 have been delivered while 33,28,967 notices haven't been delivered. What's more important is that 74,19,356 notices are currently pending for hearing across the state.
This data shared by the poll body upholds a picture of large gaps in the exercise. More than half the SIR notices generated haven't reached the voters yet.
A massive administrative load is still pending, as the SIR process in West Bengal isn't even halfway through. The data reveals even bigger gap in the hearing process.
Of the notices delivered, only around 40 per cent cases have been heard.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a sudden news briefing at the state secretariat after writing back-to-back letters to the Chief Election Commissioner in the last 72 hours.
"I want to tell the administration -- follow the law and work, there's nothing to fear. If need be, reach out to the Chief Secretary. I'm instructing the police -- if you find unauthorised documents or cash, immediately seize it," she said, reminding people that the state government has gone to the Supreme Court, accusing the Commission of carrying out SIR in a haphazard and unplanned manner.
The burden of SIR pendency is clearly visible across districts. In large districts such as North and South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, and Nadia, significant gaps persist both in terms of notice delivery and hearings.
To plug the gaps, the Commission has deployed additional micro-observers and increased the number of hearing centres.
But according to administrative sources, even with additional manpower at this stage, completing all hearings within the deadline is likely to be impossible.
The Election Commission is scheduled to publish the final voters list on February 14 - only a month is left.
