Our Bureau
Kolkata
As per the sources, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in West Bengal has started preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll that is all set to begin after Lakshmi Puja next month on October 6th. This revision by the CEO’s office will be part of a campaign by the Election Commission of India across the nation.
The CEO’s office has confirmed that the groundwork for the nationwide drive that is the matching of data from the 2002 SIR with the January 2025 voters list in Bengal will be done by tomorrow i.e., September 20th. It was also reported that the CEO’s office has already begun the early preparations for West Bengal Assembly elections bound to happen next year in 2026.
On Thursday, September 18th, the CEO’s office launched the Election Manpower Management System (EMMS) 2.0 portal. This portal will be used to streamline the recruitment and management of polling personnel. And from September 19th, the EMMS 2.0 portal is going to be used to prepare a database of polling staff in nearly 32,000 offices across the state.
The officials also expect that with the boost of around 14,000 additional polling booths there could be a high shortage of Booth Level Officers (BLOs). They are figuring out a way to tackle the situation and have already employed several election workers as BLOs.
The West Bengal’s CEO’s office has told all 32,000 government offices to submit their employee details into the EMMS 2.0 portal. They have also warned the offices that if they fail to comply to submit the documents a strict action could be taken against them under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The top official of that office would be reprimanded if a failure to comply to the orders is found.
