An association of state service officers in West Bengal has called upon the Election Commission of India to make the electoral enrolment process transparent, warning of the possibility of system-driven deletion of lakhs of electors from the rolls without the knowledge of Electoral Registration Officers, who alone have the statutory authority to examine eligibility, including citizenship, and who could ultimately be blamed for deletions they did not initiate.
The West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) Officers’ Association raised the concern in a letter addressed to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, with a copy marked to the office of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, as Electoral Registration Officers across the state prepare to hold hearings from Saturday under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, The Indian Express reported.
The association expressed apprehension that large-scale deletions could occur through the Election Commission’s centralised software system, bypassing the legally mandated quasi-judicial role of EROs, even though the final electoral rolls are published under their signature and seal.
According to the association, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, read with the Electoral Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, clearly vests the authority to issue notices, conduct hearings and decide on deletions with the ERO, and requires that any elector facing deletion be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard.
It argued that automated or system-generated deletions undermine these statutory safeguards and expose officers to public accountability for decisions taken without their involvement.
The issue has gained urgency amid the SIR process in West Bengal, where notices have been generated through the Election Commission’s centralised portal, particularly for electors not mapped with the 2002 intensive revision data and for those flagged with logical discrepancies. Similar concerns had earlier emerged in Bihar, where EROs reportedly found pre-filled notices appearing on their official log-ins despite not having generated them themselves.
The association noted that a significant number of electors whose enumeration forms were not returned on grounds such as death, migration, absence or duplication appeared to have been deleted from the draft rolls at the stage of publication, raising fears that eligible voters could be excluded without due process. It warned that such actions could infringe upon the rights of electors who may otherwise be eligible but were unable to participate during enumeration.
Officials in the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office have maintained that detailed instructions were issued to all District Election Officers, EROs and Assistant EROs before the SIR commenced, and that hearings are initially being held only for the approximately 31 lakh electors without mapping to the 2002 rolls, while scrutiny of cases involving logical discrepancies, numbering over a crore, will follow as per the Election Commission’s directions.
The association has urged the Election Commission to issue clear instructions delineating responsibility and authority, emphasising that transparency and adherence to statutory procedures are essential to protect both electors’ rights and the institutional credibility of the officers tasked with maintaining the rolls.