KOLKATA: In what seems to be an indication of immediate commencement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, the state administration has ordered the appointment of all electoral registration officers (ERO) and assistant electoral registration officers (AERO) within 24 hours.
The pending appointments of booth-level officers (BLOs) have also been directed to be completed within the timeframe.
The West Bengal administration issued these instructions after Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal wrote to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, asking him to fill all vacant ERO and AERO posts.
According to sources at Nabanna, the state administrative headquarters, Agarwal, apart from writing to the Chief Secretary, also sent a letter to district election officers (DEOs) and district magistrates (DMs).
“The objective of these letters is to be ready for commencement of the SIR exercise in Bengal whenever ECI announces it and that’s why the Chief Secretary ordered to appoint all EROs and AEROs in a meeting with all DMs on Wednesday,” sources revealed.
Sources said DMs were told that ERO posts held by officers of Deputy Magistrate rank should be changed.
Generally, SDOs (sub-divisional officers) should be appointed as EROs, but if none are available, senior WBCS officers can take the role.
At present, 610 AERO posts are vacant, and recruitment for these must be completed within the stipulated time.
The process of BLO recruitment is already underway, and the pending work must be completed by Friday.
With the new arrangement, the number of polling booths in West Bengal will rise from about 80,000 to nearly 95,000. As a result, recruitment for BLO supervisors and ‘reserves’ will also need to be completed.
It is learnt that the proposed list of appointments has already been approved by the ECI.