West Bengal is preparing for SIR; EC announced date

he CEO’s office has also begun preparations for the 2026 Bengal assembly elections. On Thursday, the office launched the Election Manpower Management System (EMMS) 2.0 portal, which will be used to simplify the recruitment and management of election staff.

New Delhi: Preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bengal have reached their final stages. The SIR is expected to begin after October 6th, following the end of Durga Puja. The State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office is finalizing the preparations for the SIR.

Following Bihar, the Election Commission of India has announced plans to begin SIR across the country. Bengal is a key player in this regard, as assembly elections are scheduled for the state next year. Preparations for this are also underway simultaneously.

What preparations has the Election Commission made?
Sources in the CEO's office stated that as part of the preparations, the work of matching the 2002 SIR data with the January 2025 Bengal voter list will be completed by tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the CEO's office has also begun preparations for the 2026 Bengal assembly elections. On Thursday, the office launched the Election Manpower Management System (EMMS) 2.0 portal, which will be used to simplify the recruitment and management of election staff.

The EMMS 2.0 portal began being used to create a database of election staff across the state on Friday. With approximately 14,000 booths expected to increase, officials anticipate a shortage of booth-level officers (BLOs). To address this problem, several election staff have already been appointed as BLOs.

Chief Electoral Officer Issues Instructions to Employees
The CEO's office has directed all relevant government offices to upload their staff information to the EMMS 2.0 portal. Failure to do so will result in strict action under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the top official of each office will be held responsible.

The EMMS 2.0 portal will serve as a digital platform for district administrations to manage election staff, including the recruitment, transfer, editing, and verification of staff. This will enable officials to maintain updated records of election-related staff, as well as add new staff or remove those who have retired or been transferred for specific reasons.

This information will be maintained at both the district and block levels. Ahead of the SIR drive, the Election Commission aims to create a comprehensive database of election staff and ascertain the exact number of staff available in the state. The EMMS 2.0 portal is a joint initiative of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal.