West Bengal Trains Micro-Observers for Voter Roll Hearings Starting Dec. 27

Overview

• Training concluded on December 24 at Nazrul Manch under the CEO’s supervision, with recruitment letters issued and the headcount reported as either around 4,600 or “4,000-odd.”
• The hearing phase opens on December 27, beginning with roughly 31 lakh unmapped entries, as the Commission says 1.67 crore electors are under scrutiny and about 10 lakh notices went out in the first phase.
• At least 11 hearing tables are planned in each of the 294 Assembly constituencies—3,234 in total—with an ERO or AERO paired with a micro-observer who can escalate issues directly to the ECI.
• Micro-observers will verify forms and supporting documents, monitor EROs/AEROs, sit one to a hearing room or table, and receive a one-time Rs 30,000 honorarium; the ECI’s software will store each elector’s submissions, and Aadhaar alone will not suffice for identity.
• TMC’s Mamata Banerjee has questioned the observers’ origins, while the CEO says all appointees work in Bengal and none were engaged from outside the state; plans reported by sources include close to 3 lakh hearings a day to clear 31,68,424 unmapped electors by early January.