KOLKATA: Election Commission on Sunday approved a proposal by Bengal chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal to accept tea garden and cinchona plantation records as documents for SIR of electoral rolls for north Bengal districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, North Dinajpur, and South Dinajpur, reports Sarthak G. Tea garden workers do not have any of EC’s notified documents and had not figured in the 2002 SIR rolls. In a letter signed by EC undersecretary Shakti Sharma, Agarwal was informed that EC has “no objection” to the proposal to recognise these employment records as proof of identity and residence. Earlier, EC officials had said tea estate workers would be verified by district election officers.
