ECI flags ‘deliberate’ delay by officials in document processing
Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has identified the electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) “guilty” of “deliberately” delaying the process of uploading of identity documents received during the hearing sessions on claims and objections on the draft voters’ list in West Bengal.
Sources in the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) claimed that 120 and 150 EROs and AEROs have been found “guilty”.
However, ECI has not yet officially given the number of EROs and AEROs involved. “Some EROs and AEROs have been found deliberately keeping the process of document uploading pending even five days after the expiry of the extended deadline for hearing sessions on February 14,” sources claimed.
The source also claimed that, due to this deliberately lackadaisical approach to document uploading, a large number of voters’ documents have yet to be uploaded to the system. “Unless these documents are uploaded, their scrutiny process would not be possible.
In such a situation, it is highly doubtful whether the current deadline of completing the scrutiny process by February 21 will be met,” sources said. They added that if the deadline for completing the document scrutiny process is extended, the current scheduled publication date of the final voters’ list on February 28 will also have to be postponed.
They said that the Commission is determined not to spare the EROs and AEROs found guilty. “Actions will be taken against them by the Commission as per provisions of the Representation of the People Acts, as already being done against two EROs, nine AEROs, one data-entry operator, and three micro-observers,” sources said.
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