Action without inquiry would be too harsh, says Bengal on ECI order to suspend 4
This comes days after the ECI directed the Mamata Banerjee government to suspend four West Bengal government officers associated with the updation of electoral rolls and lodge a police complaint against them, as well as a data entry operator. The officers were accused of adding fictitious voters' names to the electoral roll and compromising data security.
'Initiating proceedings before a detailed enquiry against these officers, who have consistently demonstrated sincerity and competence, may be a disproportionately harsh measure. Such an action could have a demoralising impact not only on the individuals but also on the broader team of officers engaged in electoral responsibilities and other administrative functions,' chief secretary Manoj Pant said in a letter to ECI secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra.
On August 5, ECI told the state government to suspend two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) accused of adding fictitious voters to the electoral roll and compromising data security.
The poll panel also directed the state's chief secretary to lodge FIRs against the four officers and a casual data entry operator.
The two EROs are West Bengal Civil Service (executive) officers.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, however, had made it clear that her government will not penalise the officers.
'Government officers were being threatened. Yesterday two of my government officers were suspended. The state was directed to lodge FIR against them. Has the election been announced? Under which law are you (ECI) directing us? I won't do this. I won't punish them,' she said at a rally in Bengal's Jhargram district two days after getting the ECI directive.
On Friday, ECI gave the state government till 3pm on Monday to submit a compliance report on the action taken against the four officers and the data entry operator.
The chief secretary said the services of AERO of Moyna AC and the data entry operator of Baruipur Purba have been withdrawn from electoral revision and election-related duties. 'Further action taken report will be submitted post completion of enquiry,' the chief secretary said in his letter on Monday.
According to ECI, the two EROs were accused of accepting a large number of Form 6 from alleged fictitious voters following a sample checking of applications from new voters in the state.
Further enquiry revealed that the mandatory verification by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were also allegedly not done in those cases. The officers were also accused of providing user access to ERO Net, a centralised system that helps election officials with electoral roll management, to unauthorised users.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) Officers' Association sought the state government's intervention, saying that the officers had no deliberate or mala fide intent behind any procedural lapse and the suspension appeared to be a harsh measure. The association requested the state government to take up the matter with the ECI and consider a review of the suspension orders.
'District level officers and field officers have a wide range of responsibilities and functions assigned to them by their appointing authorities, in addition to the electoral roll revision works and other election-related works which are time bound tasks. Therefore, there are occasions where certain functions are delegated to the subordinate staff in good faith,' the chief secretary said in his letter.
The letter also stated that the government has undertaken a comprehensive review of the existing processes and procedures governing the conduct of the said exercise.
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