Election Commission to appoint officers of Central Government as micro observers for revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal
Members of group B, as well as top central officials, will be the ones overseeing the verification process of the Special Intensive Revision
Improving Election Roll Oversight
The Election Commission of India has announced to use officers of the central government as micro observers for the electoral rolls in West Bengal in the context of Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls. This is because the officers, mostly from Group B and above, will oversee the cases, objections, and hearings in connection with the revision of the electoral rolls, given that the state Assembly elections are also impending.
The micro observers will scrutinize digitized enumeration forms filled by Booth Level Officers and check documents generated by electors at hearings. They will also determine compliance with prescribed procedures at the various points of this process of revision. Irregularities found at this process will be directly reported to the senior election authorities, including the Chief Electoral Officer.
Role of Micro Observers
As informed by the officials, the role of the observers would be to work along with the Electoral Registration Officers and the Special Electoral Roll Observers. The deployment of the observers would therefore go a long way in increasing the level of confidence in the process by way of additional independent observation. The district administrations have been directed to provide logistical and security support.
The implementation of the micro observers will also be carried out on a phased basis, with a number of officers expected to start observing hearings soon. According to the Election Commission, the process will continue until the final electoral rolls are published so that eligible voters are included and any ineligible entry is filtered out.
Political and Administrative Environment
This comes against the backdrop of concerns raised about discrepancies exhibited in the draft lists of electors, as well as calls for more intensive monitoring. Bringing in officials from the center who are not part of the local administration will help the Commission remain unbiased. This not only highlights the importance of ‘electoral integrity’ placed by the Election Commission on West Bengal, a ‘politically sensitive state,’ but also marks a sincere effort from the Election Commission for ‘free, fair, and transparent elections.’
