West Bengal Urges 7-Day Extension For SIR Hearings As Verification And Data Uploading Remain Pending

West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal on Saturday urged the Election Commission of India to extend the final date for hearings under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by seven days, citing delays reported from several districts. The current deadline for completing the hearing process was February 7.

Speaking to reporters, Agarwal said the request was made after multiple district election officers informed the state office that various stages of the revision process - including hearings, verification and data uploading - were still pending in some areas.

Request for More Time After District-Level Delays

Agarwal explained that inputs from seven to eight districts indicated that not all procedures could be completed within the original timeline. While some districts have yet to conclude hearings, others are still working on verification and uploading of data, along with final decisions by Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).

"I have appealed for a seven-day extension after receiving feedback from district election officers. In some places hearings are still ongoing, while in others uploading and verification work remains incomplete," Agarwal said.

If the Election Commission grants the extension, hearings will continue until February 14. As a result, the publication of the final electoral roll, which was earlier scheduled for February 14, may also be pushed back.

Majority of Work Completed, Final List May Be Delayed

Despite the delays, officials said most of the revision work has already been completed across the state. According to the Chief Electoral Officer, about 96 to 97 per cent of hearings have been finished, with only around three per cent pending in a few districts.

He added that data uploading is approximately 75 to 80 per cent complete, while 15 to 20 per cent of the work still remains. Authorities are working to ensure that all remaining procedures are completed within the extended timeline if approval is granted.

Agarwal indicated that if the pending tasks are finished within the proposed additional week, the final voter list for the state could be published by the last week of the month. The Election Commission is expected to review the request and take a decision on the extension soon.