Kolkata Voters Frustrated by Repeated Hearing Notices for Already Fixed Errors
Many voters in Kolkata are expressing frustration over receiving faulty hearing notices from election authorities. These notices arrive even after they have corrected spelling, age, or gender errors that were originally spotted on the 2002 SIR list. Voters and officials alike are pointing fingers at a systemic issue that is causing unnecessary hassle.
Officials Acknowledge the Problem
Booth level officers and electoral registration officers have admitted that electors are being summoned for what they call 'logical discrepancies'. These are issues that voters have already resolved through proper channels. The problem appears to stem from the Election Commission's system, which continues to pull data from the outdated 2002 electoral roll. This happens despite corrections being made in the intervening years.
BLOs are still tasked with delivering these hearing notices to voters flagged with discrepancies. One BLO from Howrah explained the situation clearly. "Among the recipients of the notice, many got their errors corrected through Form 8," he said. "The flaws include name spelling errors, age mismatches, or gender issues. Despite these corrections, these electors are getting the hearing notice for logical discrepancies."
Personal Stories Highlight the Issue
Rik Mondal, a resident of Haltu, experienced this firsthand. His name was misspelt as 'Rick Mandal' on the 2002 SIR list. He promptly filled up Form 8 to correct the spelling to match his official documents, including his passport. "My BLO sought xerox copies of my documents again to sort out the issue that was already resolved," Mondal said. He expressed confusion over why the SIR exercise relies on the 2002 roll and ignores subsequent corrections.
Gautam Sen from Jadavpur faced a similar ordeal. In 2002, his age was incorrectly listed as 31 instead of 51. He applied for a correction and rectified the error. However, he was still marked in the 'logical discrepancy' category. "As a responsible citizen, I changed errors in my voter's details, but the commission did not accept it for the SIR process," Sen lamented. "Rather, they took the wrong age from the 2002 electoral roll."
Systemic Failure Causes Harassment
A BLO in south Kolkata reported receiving a new list of 14 electors with discrepancies like name errors or age and sex mismatches. These voters were surprised by the hearing notices and called the process harassment. They are being asked to resolve issues that were already fixed. When the BLO informed the electoral registration officer about this, the response pointed to the EC's system. The officer stated that the problem comes from the system being based on the 2002 electoral roll. Therefore, changes made to voters' names, age, or gender have not yet been reflected.
This issue has even led to resignations among officials. Mousam Sarkar, a block disaster management officer, recently resigned from his post as an assistant electoral registration officer. He cited this persistent problem as one of the key reasons for withdrawing from the SIR process. The continuous cycle of sending notices for resolved errors is driving frustration at all levels.
Voters in Kolkata are now calling for a swift resolution to this technical glitch. They hope the Election Commission will update its systems to recognize corrections and stop the unnecessary harassment. Until then, the confusion and extra paperwork continue to burden both citizens and election officials.
