The Election Commission of India has asked district officials to bring the hearing process to the doorsteps of the state's most vulnerable voters. Now, citizens aged 85 and above, as well as those who are sick or living with disabilities, will no longer have to travel for SIR hearings. Instead, election officers will conduct these eligibility hearings at the voters' residences— a move that mirrors the home-voting options provided during the last Lok Sabha elections.
Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, whose party had formally raised concerns about the physical strain on elderly voters, welcomed the change but urged the Commission to extend the same courtesy to those over 60 who suffer from serious medical conditions. Taking to social media, Banerjee emphasised that "humanity" should be the guiding principle in these administrative exercises. In line with this shift, officials have been told to stop serving already-generated notices to these categories of voters, and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are now calling those who were already summoned to inform them that they can stay home.
Beyond the home-visit policy, the Commission has also relaxed its stance on "unmapped" voters. If a voter’s name — or even the name of a relative — can be traced in the physical hard copies of the 2002 electoral rolls, officials can now clear their status without a formal hearing. This technical fix is expected to resolve thousands of cases where the Commission’s software failed to find a digital link, even though the voter has a legitimate paper trail. However, the EC clarified that if any discrepancies are found later or if formal complaints are filed, these individuals could still be summoned for further verification.
Even as it has eased some pressing concerns, the doorstep initiative is causing renewed tension between the Commission and the EC due to the latter’s inflexible stand on the presence of political party agents at the hearing venues. The EC reiterated that BLAs are not allowed, under any circumstances, in the hearing rooms, as any officer that allows their entry will have to face action.
This resulted in a tense standoff in Hooghly's Mogra block on Monday, where TMC MLA Asit Mazumdar staged a protest, bringing hearings to a standstill for over an hour. In an effort to deal with such incidents, the Chief Election Officer has ordered District Election Officers to be physically present at hearing points to ensure that the verification process is not derailed.
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