Kolkata, 12 January(H.S.): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has approved a proposal to accept records of tea gardens and cinchona plantations as valid documents for verification under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in seven districts of north Bengal. Official sources said the decision was conveyed in a letter sent to the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Kumar Agarwal.

In its communication, the ECI stated that it has “no objection” to the proposal for the districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur.

Meanwhile, BJP Member of Parliament from Darjeeling, Raju Bista, said in a social media post that employment records of cinchona plantations and tea gardens would now also be recognised as important documents for various official purposes in the future.

The MP further claimed that he had personally written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, urging that these records be accepted as valid documents for verification during the SIR process.

It may be noted that amid the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal, notices have been issued to lakhs of people across the state, leading to widespread discontent over the possibility of deletion of names from the electoral rolls even for minor discrepancies. In view of this, the Election Commission has been taking steps to include additional documents in the verification process.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh