Kolkata, Feb 14 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday sent a fresh communication to the West Bengal government seeking clarification over the inclusion of several Group-C state government employees in the list of 8,505 Group-B officers submitted by the state for deployment as micro-observers in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, as directed by the Supreme Court earlier this month.

“Almost 30 per cent of the 8,505 names in the list provided by the state government are actually Group-C employees. They have been shown as Group-B officers based on their recently enhanced pay. The question is how enhanced pay can elevate the rank of these Group-C employees to that of Group-B officers. Hence, a fresh communication has been sent to the state government seeking clarification on the matter,” said a source in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.

The source added that the Commission also pointed out that, of the 8,505 names submitted by the state government, around 500 officers are already functioning as Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) in the voter revision exercise.

“This raises further questions, as these officers are already performing duties as AEROs. The rationale behind appointing them as micro-observers is unclear, given that the responsibilities of micro-observers differ from those of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and AEROs,” the CEO’s office source said.

The source further said that due to ongoing uncertainty regarding the rank status of many officers included in the list submitted by the state government, it remains unclear whether they will be deployed in the revision exercise, particularly as only 14 days remain before the publication of the final voters’ list, which will mark the conclusion of the revision process.

–IANS

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