KOLKATA: A central control room equipped with an AI system, 90 screens, around 100 laptops, and staffed by 200 young micro-observers from various central government offices, along with 10 toll-free numbers, has been set up to monitor 80,650 polling stations across 294 assembly constituencies in West Bengal during the election.
This extensive surveillance arrangement, which includes around two lakh web cameras, comes in the backdrop of the deletion of around 91 lakh voters’ names following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In an unprecedented move, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has, for the first time in West Bengal—one of the few states often marked by large-scale election violence, sometimes even claiming lives—set up a central “war room” on the fourth floor of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal to ensure free and fair elections.
Polling in the state will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29. Each polling booth will be equipped with one camera inside and one outside, while sensitive booths will have three cameras.
The hi-tech central control command centre located at the CEO's office in the Shipping Corporation of India building on Strand Road will enable round-the-clock real-time monitoring of polling stations, personnel, agents, voters, police, and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) through GS both inside and outside.
A visit to the control room on Wednesday afternoon revealed that it has already become operational two weeks ahead of the first phase covering 152 assembly constituencies with around 50,000 polling stations. Officials and micro-observers using laptops can simultaneously monitor proceedings in 500 polling stations on 90 screens and switch to another 500 booths within minutes, an official at the CEO office said.
The Commission introduced two cameras per polling station, including in remote villages, for live streaming of voting, and engaged three major agencies based in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad to implement webcasting across polling booths as well as district election officer (DEO) and returning officer (RO) offices.
With this system, micro-observers—previously deployed only at select sensitive booths—can now monitor every booth statewide.
"We are also using AI in the central control room because it will help monitoring in emergency situation when untoward events take place in a large number of polling stations. Local control rooms will also be set up in DEO and RO offices where micro-observers will do the job of constant monitoring of booths,” said Subrata Gupta, chief election observer, who is monitoring all 294 assembly constituencies in the state.
Gupta added that the ECI has implemented this extensive monitoring system with an initial budget of more than Rs 200 crore, similar to initiatives in Bihar, to ensure elections are conducted without fear and favour.
