Elderly residents across Kolkata and New Town endured a second day of distress and confusion on Sunday as they attended hearings for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Many were left standing for hours without basic amenities, unaware of why they were summoned.
Anger and Frustration at Hearing Centers
Eighty-year-old Kamal Chowdhury and his 75-year-old wife Chaitali, who suffers from knee pain, waited with sheaves of documents at Upendra Vidyamandir school in north Kolkata. They were not offered chairs or water and were forced to stand in a queue. The couple, married for over 40 years and lifelong residents of 511 Rabindra Sarani, were clueless about their inclusion in the list of 'unmapped' voters—those with no linkage to the 2002 voters' list.
"What is the point of all this? I do not care," said an exasperated Kamal Chowdhury. His wife Chaitali recounted how one of her documents even fell into a roadside drain during the ordeal. They had to cut short their stay at their daughter's house in Patipukur to attend the hearing.
Systemic Neglect of Senior Citizens
The scene was similar at other centers. Seventy-nine-year-old Gita Singh, unable to stand for long, had to sit on the footboard of an autorickshaw outside the school after officials denied her a chair. "I told the officials that I cannot stand for long. But they asked me to wait till my name is called," she said angrily.
At Ganabhaban in Shyampukur, 76-year-old Bharati De was in tears, clutching her school-leaving certificate and bank passbook, anxious about what proof would be demanded. "Who knows what they will ask for?" wondered the retired schoolteacher.
Another elderly voter, Uma Das, who came with her husband, called the process "ridiculous," stating they had provided all information in the SIR enumeration form but were still summoned without explanation.
Confusion and Errors in EC Database
At Chetla Girls’ High School, 76-year-old Dinabandhu Das attended the hearing due to a discrepancy caused by the Election Commission database confusing his late father, Gobardhan Das, with another person of the same name. "I have a few more days to live, still I have to queue up just because there was a discrepancy," he said sarcastically.
Priya Dutta, a 35-year-old professional, accompanied her 60-year-old mother to the hearing and labeled the experience "harassment."
Former joint police commissioner Pallab Kanti Ghosh, who attended a hearing at APJ Abdul Kalam College in New Town, highlighted the cruel neglect. He noted senior citizens were waiting for over two-and-a-half hours, leaning against walls without benches or drinking water. "This is cruel negligence... Is it on purpose?" he questioned.
The widespread sentiment across the hearing centers was one of frustration and bewilderment, as voters, especially the aged, were subjected to physical hardship and procedural opacity during this critical electoral roll revision process.
