Kolkata, 08 November (H.S.):

A new complication has surfaced in West Bengal’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, as residents of former enclaves in Cooch Behar have submitted a list of around 450 women to the district administration, expressing concern that they may be excluded from the draft voter rolls scheduled to be published on December 9.

According to election officials, these women are former residents of the 51 Bangladeshi enclaves that were integrated into India in August 2015. However, they were not included in the headcount conducted that year since they had been married before the enclave exchange and were living with their in-laws in different parts of the country.

The Election Commission had verbally assured that enclave residents missing from the 2002 electoral rolls—used as the base document for the ongoing SIR 2026 exercise—would be incorporated into the new rolls using the 2015 headcount records maintained by the district administration. Residents, however, fear that married women living outside the enclave areas might lose their voting rights.

The enclave exchange was part of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh. Two Indo-Bangla joint surveys were conducted—first in 2011 and later in 2015—to finalize the exchange process. Official records show that 15,856 residents of Bangladeshi enclaves located within Indian territory were granted Indian citizenship, while 921 residents of Indian enclaves in Bangladesh opted to move to India.

Jaynal Abedin, a resident of Madhya Mashaldanga and a former enclave dweller, said, “We have prepared a list of about 450 women who got married before 2015 and now live outside the enclave areas. These names have come from four enclaves — Madhya Mashaldanga, Dakshin Mashaldanga, Poatur Kuthi, and Kachua. More names from other enclaves are expected as the compilation process continues.”

Abedin was part of a delegation that met Cooch Behar district officials on Thursday, following a review meeting held by a central Election Commission team led by the Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, in the presence of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), to assess the progress of the SIR exercise.

“We were assured by an Additional District Magistrate that our concerns will be taken seriously. We have already handed over the first set of lists containing the names of women who might otherwise go unnoticed,” Abedin added.

West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal confirmed that cases involving enclave women married before 2015 would be dealt with separately. “The Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in the district will handle these cases as per the Election Commission’s guidelines. There is no need for anyone to worry — the Commission will provide full support,” Agarwal said.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh