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Kolkata, November 24 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar objecting to two recent proposals from the Election Commission of India (ECI) -- one concerning the separate appointment of data-entry operators for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, and the other relating to the choice of polling stations for the assembly elections scheduled next year.
Referring to a recent request for proposals to hire 1,000 data-entry operators and 50 software developers for a period of one year, the Chief Minister said the move stands in contradiction to the commission’s own order to district election officers (DEOs) earlier this month asking electoral authorities in the state to refrain from engaging contractual data-entry operators and Bangla Sahayata Kendra (BSK) staff for SIR-related or other election-related data work.
In her letter, the Chief Minister asked why, when district offices already have a substantial number of competent professionals performing such functions, there was a need to outsource the same work to an external agency for a full year.
"Traditionally, field offices have always hired their own contractual data-entry personnel as per requirement. If there is an urgent need, DEOs are fully empowered to undertake such hiring themselves. Why, then, is the CEO's office assuming this role on behalf of field officers? What substantive difference is expected in the service conditions or contractual obligations between those already engaged and those to be hired through the proposed agency?" the Chief Minister’s letter read.
She also questioned whether this exercise was being undertaken at the behest of a political party to serve vested interests, and observed that the timing and manner of the proposal by the commission raised legitimate doubts.
The second objection raised by the Chief Minister in her letter to the CEC concerns the reported proposal from the commission for setting up polling stations inside private housing complexes for the crucial West Bengal assembly polls next year.
“It has further been brought to my attention that the Election Commission is considering setting up polling stations within private residential complexes, and DEOs have been asked to provide recommendations. This proposal is deeply problematic. Polling stations have always been, and must remain, located in government or semi-government institutions, preferably within a 2 km radius, to ensure accessibility and neutrality. Private buildings are typically avoided for clear reasons: they compromise fairness, violate established norms, and create discriminatory distinctions between privileged residents and the general public — the haves and have-nots,” the Chief Minister’s letter said.
She also asked whether the commission’s proposal for setting up polling stations inside private housing complexes was being made under pressure from a political party to advance partisan interests.
