The SIR, initiated by the Election Commission of India, is intended to update and verify voter lists across the state. Authorities have flagged more than 46 lakh names for review — including approximately 6.4 lakh “untraceable” voters, 16.22 lakh “shifted” voters, and 1.05 lakh duplicate entries, according to official data.
Banerjee accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of using SIR as a politically motivated tool ahead of West Bengal’s assembly elections, aimed at destabilising the state government and disenfranchising voters. She warned of alleged pressure on state election-related staff, including Booth-Level Officers, and criticised what she described as forceful directives from the union government — likening them to colonial-style interference.
The chief minister unveiled plans to launch “May I Help You” camps in every block starting 12 December — a measure intended to assist citizens whose documentation may be under scrutiny and ensure no genuine voter is excluded. Alongside, she announced compensation for the families of those she claimed had died due to stress linked with the voter-roll revision: ₹2 lakh for families of the deceased, ₹1 lakh for those hospitalised, and support for individuals in rehabilitation.
Advocacy groups and opposition parties have expressed concern that SIR mirrors earlier controversial citizenship-verification exercises elsewhere, particularly in states that implemented changes under the National Register of Citizens. Critics argue that detention camps have in the past followed such exercises when individuals were deemed “foreigners.”
The ECI’s decision to extend the deadline for submitting enumeration forms — now moved to 11 December — and to delay publication of the draft voter list to 16 December reflects the scale and sensitivity of the exercise.