The Election Commission's directive to complete document verification within five working days after the Summary Revision (SIR) hearing is creating significant operational challenges in Kolkata, according to officials familiar with the process. The tight timeline is proving particularly difficult for applicants whose supporting documents were issued in other states or union territories.
The Core Challenge: A Five-Day Deadline and Cross-State Documents
Officials within the Election Commission (EC) have highlighted that the mandated five-working-day window for verifying documents is extremely difficult to meet in numerous cases. The complexity escalates when an applicant's proof of identity or address was issued in a state different from their current residential constituency. "If an applicant's document is issued in the same district of his/her residence constituency, then the verification is not a problem. However, if the district is different, the process is complex," an EC official explained.
Legacy Data Errors and the 'Unmapped' Voter Dilemma
Compounding the deadline pressure are persistent errors stemming from the digitization of legacy records. Sporadic errors during the conversion of the PDF version of the 2002 SIR list have led to several electors being marked as 'unmapped' in the EC's current software. While these voters were originally mapped to the hard copy of the 2002 list in other states, those details are not accessible in the current digital system.
This creates a unique problem for voters who have since returned to Kolkata. A Booth Level Officer (BLO) in south Kolkata detailed the issue: "For those mapped to the hard copy of the 2002 SIR list, the EC sought details from the voters like part number, serial number, and booth in other states. But they returned to the city after retirement and are unable to give their 23-year-old voting details."
Real-Life Impact: Returnees in Limbo
The human impact of this bureaucratic and technical snag is evident. Take the case of Swapan Boral, a civil engineer and resident of Santoshpur. He lived in Pune for 25 years before returning to Kolkata in 2006. "I shifted my voter's card but I don't have the voting details with me now. I am unsure whether my name will be retained on the final list," Boral said, echoing the anxiety of many in similar situations.
Officials Raise Concerns, Clear Solution Elusive
The mounting challenges have been formally raised by the district administration. Several District Election Officers (DEOs) highlighted the issue in a meeting with the EC's IT team and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bengal held last week. A key concern they presented was the impracticality of tracking thousands of verification-related mails daily. Despite these discussions, sources indicate that the Election Commission could not provide a clear, immediate solution to streamline the process.
This situation leaves both election officials and a section of voters, particularly those who have migrated back to Kolkata after long periods elsewhere, in a state of uncertainty as the revision process continues under a stringent timeline.
