Kolkata, Jan 20 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asked district magistrates to strictly adhere to the Supreme Court’s instructions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, stressing that people must not be harassed in the name of “logical discrepancies”, a senior official said.
Banerjee unexpectedly joined a meeting, which was being chaired by Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty at state secretariat Nabanna with district magistrates in the afternoon, he said.
“She made it clear that all hearings related to SIR must be conducted strictly in accordance with the apex court’s directives. The CM specifically instructed officials to ensure that people are not put to inconvenience under the pretext of logical discrepancies,” he said.
The chief minister said people were facing difficulties due to the SIR hearings over “logical discrepancies”, and the issue must be approached with a humanitarian perspective.
“She underlined that documents declared valid by the Supreme Court must be accepted during hearings without exception. District magistrates were also instructed to ensure that receipts are issued after documents are submitted,” the official said.
Banerjee said that alternative arrangements must be made for voters unable to attend hearings on the designated dates.
She said that while the Election Commission’s work must proceed, the state’s development programmes should not be disrupted under any circumstances.
Instructing that all development schemes must be completed within the stipulated timeline, she said state officials do not need to be fearful as her government was firmly with them. PTI SCH SOM
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