The Election Fee (ECI) has summoned the West Bengal chief secretary for not eradicating and submitting FIRs in opposition to 4 state ballot officers accused of including names of fictitious voters to the electoral roll. The chief secretary has been requested to look earlier than the ballot watchdog on Wednesday at 5 pm.
On August 5, the ECI requested the chief secretary to droop two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) for irregularities within the registration of names in voter lists in two constituencies – Baruipur Purba and Moyna.
The ballot physique had additionally directed registration of FIRs in opposition to the EROs and AEROs for “prison misconduct” in addition to the info entry operator.
The ballot officers named by the ECI embrace Debottam Dutta Choudhury (ERO), Tathagata Mondal (AERO), Biplab Sarkar (ERO) and Sudipta Das (AERO).
The ECI additionally accused the officers of violating information safety insurance policies by sharing their login credentials with unauthorised people.
The ECI famous that officers concerned in electoral duties had been thought-about to be on deputation to the fee and had been topic to its management, superintendence, and self-discipline throughout that interval.
On August 8, the ECI despatched a reminder, stating that no compliance report had been obtained. The ECI then directed that the required motion be taken, and a compliance report be furnished by 3 pm on August 11.
BENGAL RESPONDS
Nonetheless, in its response, the Bengal chief secretary, Manoj Pant, stated an inside inquiry and a complete evaluate of current processes had been undertaken.
Pant argued that district-level officers and subject officers have a variety of duties and typically delegate duties to subordinate workers “in good religion”.
The letter stated taking motion earlier than an in depth inquiry may very well be a “disproportionately harsh measure” that may have a “demoralising affect” on the officers concerned.
As a preliminary measure, the companies of Sudipta Das and the info entry operator have been withdrawn from election-related duties, the chief secretary stated.
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