KOLKATA, Nov 12 : The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in West Bengal on Wednesday held a review meeting with Aadhaar authorities, where the UIDAI officials shared the names of nearly 47 lakh deceased individuals in the state from the Aadhaar database.
The meeting, chaired by CEO Manoj Agarwal, was attended by Aadhaar officials, who informed that details of around 34 lakh deceased individuals possessing Aadhaar cards have already been shared with the Election Commission.
“Another 13 lakh people have been identified as deceased who did not possess Aadhaar cards. Their names have also been shared,” an Aadhar official present in the meeting said.
An Election Commission official said that once the data is cross-verified, the process of deleting the names of deceased persons from the electoral rolls will begin.
“This exercise will ensure the voter list is accurate and up to date,” the official added.
The move comes after the Election Commission of India (ECI) directed Aadhaar authorities across states and union Territories to share data on deceased persons with the respective CEO offices.
Officials said the information will help detect and eliminate names of deceased voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to CEO office sources, if enumeration forms are found to have been submitted in the names of deceased persons, the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will summon the individuals who filed those forms for clarification.
In some cases, the Booth Level Officer (BLO) concerned may also be called for explanation. The step, officials said, is aimed at ensuring that “no dead voter remains on the list.”
The distribution of enumeration forms across West Bengal began on November 4 and entered its ninth day on Wednesday.
BLOs are conducting door-to-door visits to collect updated voter details based on the 2002 electoral roll, after which the information is uploaded through a designated app.
The CEO office has convened a special review meeting late tonight with all EROs to assess the pace of form distribution.
As of 4 pm, around 6.87 crore forms had been distributed across the state.
However, the distribution rate remains below 75% in 37 constituencies, including Kasba, Jadavpur, Beleghata, Bidhannagar, Rajarhat-New Town, Sonarpur, Behala, Maheshtala, Metiabruz, and several others in Kolkata and North and South 24 Parganas.
The Commission aims to complete the distribution of all forms across the state within the next couple of days to prevent delays in the SIR process. (UNI)
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