CEO says efforts on to publish final electoral roll in Bengal before Feb 28 as SC extends deadline

Kolkata: The final electoral roll in West Bengal will not be published before February 21, while attempts are being made to release it by the end of this month, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal said on Monday.

The Supreme Court on Monday extended the deadline for scrutiny of documents submitted by affected persons by one week beyond February 14, as this process is likely to take some time and to help electoral registration officers (EROs) to take appropriate decisions.

“The final voter list will not be published before February 21. We will try to publish it by February 28,” Agarwal said while briefing the media.

Giving an update on the revision process, he said that hearings have been completed in around 1.39 crore cases, while documents have been uploaded in nearly 1.06 crore cases.

Agarwal also said that the state government has provided the names of 8,505 Group-B officers for election-related duties.

“They will join from tomorrow. After two days of training, the new micro-observers will get their log-in credentials within five to seven days,” he said.

On grievance redressal, the CEO said, “After the final voter list is published, if a voter’s name does not appear, they can apply to the District Election Officer within five days. If the DEO does not dispose of the application, the voter can approach the state CEO within the next five days.”