Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: EC has directed West Bengal chief secretary Nandini Chakravarty to comply with its directives regarding payment of honorarium to BLOs, appointment of suitable SIR/poll-related officers, the rescinding of unilateral transfer of roll observers and registration of FIRs against errant officers, by 5.30 pm on Feb 17.Chakravarty was summoned by EC here Friday to discuss matters pending with Bengal govt, including one in which EC has sent multiple reminders. EC had last written to Bengal govt on Feb 4, seeking a compliance report by 3 pm on Feb 9, 2026.Among the key issues flagged by EC is the failure of state govt to pay full honorarium to BLOs. As of now, Bengal govt has paid Rs 7,000 as honorarium to BLOs, as against Rs 13,000 payable as per EC’s guidelines. BLO supervisors, for whom EC has fixed an honorarium of Rs 20,000, have not been paid at all. Chakravarty has now been directed to immediately release the pending amount.The poll panel also asked Chakravarty to comply with its directives dated 05.08.2025 for registration of FIRs against two electoral registration officers, two assistant EROs and one data entry operator over their alleged failure to perform their statutory duty and for violating data security policies. A reminder in this case was last sent to West Bengal on Jan 2, 2026.The commission also pressed its directive dated Jan 25 for suspension of Basirhat assistant electoral registration officer Sumitra Pratim Pradhan, who had “unauthorisedly deployed 11 additional AEROs to conduct hearing by issuing suo-motu order, in contravention of statutory provisions”.EC further directed the chief secretary to cancel transfer orders issued by state govt in respect of three electoral roll observers without consulting it.
