kolkata, Jan 2: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has engaged Oriya interpreters-cum-translators for four gram panchayats in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district to facilitate hearings on claims and objections related to the draft electoral rolls under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The interpreters have been deployed in two gram panchayats each under the Dantan and Mohanpur community development blocks, located close to the West Bengal–Odisha border, where a majority of voters are predominantly Oriya-speaking.
According to a senior official in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the move became necessary as many voters in these areas have submitted duly filled enumeration forms written in Oriya script. “Even the completed enumeration forms are in Oriya, which makes it essential to appoint interpreters-cum-translators for the hearing sessions,” the official said.
The voters in these gram panchayats trace their ancestral roots to Odisha and have been settled in the region for generations. Most of them depend on agriculture and animal husbandry for their livelihood.
Officials said linguistic challenges are further compounded as many women who marry into these families also come from Odisha and are conversant only in Oriya.
“This has made it extremely difficult for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), and Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are primarily Bengali-speaking, to communicate effectively with these voters during hearings,” the official said.
While Oriya-speaking voters are present in pockets across both East Midnapore and West Midnapore districts, officials noted that their concentration is particularly high in the four gram panchayats under the Dantan and Mohanpur blocks.
“Verbal interaction during hearings is inconvenient, but translating Oriya scripts in the enumeration forms is even more time-consuming. As a result, hearings involving such voters take significantly longer than usual,” the official added.
The draft voters’ list for West Bengal was published on December 16, while the final list is scheduled to be released on February 14. The Election Commission is expected to announce polling dates for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections thereafter.
