Amid controversies surrounding the Enforcement Directorate’s actions at the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) office and co-founder Pratik Jain’s residence, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will review complaints about I-PAC staff allegedly working as data-entry operators in West Bengal. The Commission plans to conduct random re-checks on the backgrounds of state government employees appointed as data-entry operators during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.
Insiders from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in West Bengal revealed that the Commission will focus on verifying police reports, a mandatory step for these employees as per ECI guidelines. The Commission is particularly concerned about the accuracy of clerical work performed by data-entry operators during the revision exercise, emphasizing the importance of error-free entries.
The data-entry operators play a crucial role in manually entering voter enumeration form details collected by Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs). Errors in these entries could impact voters’ inclusion in the final voters’ list, as witnessed during the enumeration stage of the SIR exercise.
Given the significance of the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, the Commission is taking the demand for re-checking the backgrounds of these employees seriously. The draft voters’ list was released on December 16 last year, with the final list scheduled for publication on February 14 next year. Subsequently, the ECI will announce the polling dates for the state’s crucial elections.
