SIR hearings underway in Bengal
KOLKATA: An 82-year-old jumped on the railway tracks hours before his scheduled appearance at a hearing for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls at Para in Bengal’s Purulia Monday. A septuagenarian from Howrah and another from Kalyani died after receiving SIR hearing notices. Family members of both blamed SIR stress for the deaths.As SIR hearings entered the third day, reports poured in of anxiety gripping “unmapped” voters being asked to appear before EC officials.A 96-year-old man in Cooch Behar, a 90-year-old woman in Katwa and a pregnant homemaker from Taki were among thousands who waited in queues for hearings. EC clarified that, on request, BLOs would visit homes of voters aged 85 and above, and those with disabilities and ailments.TNNElderly deaths, distress reported amid SIR hearings across Bengal Durjan Majhi, 82, jumped onto the railway tracks and was run over by a train at 8.30am, around 5 hours before he was to appear in an SIR hearing at the Para BDO office. His only son Kanai, who works as a day labourer, said, “My father had submitted the SIR enumeration form but his name was not on the draft voters’ list. His name was on the 2002 voters’ list, though. We don’t understand why he was called to a hearing. He had been anxious since getting the hearing notice on Dec 25.”Jamat Ali, 75, passed away at his home in Howrah’s Amta Sunday night, hours after receiving a hearing notice. Howrah DM P Deepap Priya said, “He was already unwell. His kin claimed he was anxious about the hearing. An inquiry is underway.”In Kalyani, Jaharlal Mahato (72) died of cardiac arrest on Monday, 48 hours after he attended an SIR hearing. Son Tamaghlal said, “He had been distressed since the hearing. His name was on the 2002 list, yet he was called to a hearing.At the Dinhata Block 1 BDO office in Cooch Behar, 96-year-old Nikhil Chandra Sarkar had turned up with his wife and son to appear before EC officials. He could barely walk because of his age and physical ailments. “I am the only one in my family to get the SIR notice. My name was not on the 2002 list. I gave them whatever documents I had,” Sarkar said, visibly frustrated.At Katwa I BDO office, one of the people in the queue was a 90-year-old bedridden woman, Muktibala Paramanik, whose house is 4km from the hearing venue. Grandson Paritosh Paramanik said, “This is just harassment. They asked her to sign some documents and let her go.”East Burdwan DM Ayesha Rani said, “We did not get any written instruction that hearings for elderly people should be conducted at home. Even so, I instructed that elderly and infirm people should not be called.”A woman from Taki, who is eight months pregnant, fell ill while waiting in a long queue at Basirhat Block II BDO office. Supriya Mondal got a hearing notice as her name did not feature on the 2002 list. Her mother, Khukurani Das, said, “After waiting for a long time in the crowd, my daughter suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed. Making her stand for hours at such an advanced stage of pregnancy is dangerous for her health.”Scenes in Kolkata were no different. A young woman had arrived at a hearing venue in central Kolkata with her three-month-old child. “We came here around 1pm. While filling the enumeration form, my wife had mistakenly entered her father’s details as per the 2025 voter ID card instead of the 2002 SIR electoral roll. She was called to the hearing because of the mismatch,” said her husband Md Hussain. Go to Source
