Monday, January 05, 2026 | 02:31 AM ISTहिंदी में पढें
Business Standard
Notification Icon
userprofile IconSearch

SIR hearings to begin today in Bengal; 320K unmapped voters to be covered

Voters will be allowed to submit any of 12 recognised documents, including Aadhaar, as proof of identity and address, the official at the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said

Vote, Voter, Voting, Bihar Election, Election

State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said all preparations for the hearings have been completed (Photo: PTI)

Press Trust of India Kolkata

Listen to This Article

The hearings under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in West Bengal will commence on Saturday, with 3,234 centres set up across the state, a senior official said.

Around 32 lakh "unmapped" voters, those who are unable to establish linkage with the 2002 electoral roll, will be called for hearings in the first phase, he said.

Voters will be allowed to submit any of 12 recognised documents, including Aadhaar, as proof of identity and address, the official at the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said on Friday.

However, the commission has clarified that the Aadhaar card will not be accepted as a standalone document.

 

"Electoral lists prepared during the recent SIR exercise in Bihar will also be considered valid documents. However, submission of fake or forged documents will be treated as a punishable offence," the official warned.

State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said all preparations for the hearings have been completed.

"The process will be conducted under the supervision of over 4,500 micro-observers, with only authorised officials such as EROs, AROs, BLOs and observers permitted at the hearing centres," the official told PTI.

The poll body said no changes will be permitted once the hearing centres and rules are finalised, adding that the measures aim to ensure transparency and accuracy in the revision process.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Dec 27 2025 | 11:29 AM IST

Explore News