Election Commission to begin training poll officials in Bengal from Tuesday as part of voter roll revision exercise

Kolkata: The Election Commission is likely to begin training poll officers in West Bengal starting Tuesday, as part of preparations for the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, a senior official said.

Assembly polls are due in West Bengal next year.

"State CEO Manoj Agarwal, along with Additional CEOs Dibyendu Das and Arindam Neogi, are expected to lead Tuesday’s training session. The aim is to ensure that the trainers are well-equipped to guide booth-level officers (BLOs) on how to carry out the voter list revision process smoothly and accurately," he told PTI.

Assistant district magistrates (ADMs) and electoral registration officers (EROs) from across the state will be trained in the coming days, the official said.

"These officials will then train the BLOs, who are responsible for direct voter outreach at the grassroots level," he said.

Once the ADM and ERO training is complete, the BLOs will receive detailed instructions on assisting voters in filling requisite forms during the SIR drive, he said.

"The BLOs are expected to visit households across the state to verify details and ensure proper documentation is in place. This is part of the pre-SIR groundwork,” the official said.

Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti is scheduled to visit Kolkata later this week to review preparations and oversee the rollout of the revision exercise, he said.

Meanwhile, during a meeting with ADMs here on Monday, officials were asked to begin voter mapping activities at the district level.

A key directive was to compare the 2002 voter list – the last time SIR was conducted in West Bengal – with the latest electoral roll published in January 2025.

"By cross-verifying voters who were listed in 2002, we hope to reduce hassles, particularly for elderly voters, who may otherwise face difficulty proving their eligibility,” the official added.