Hill voter roll gap fans worry

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 24 Sep 2019, Darjeeling: The Darjeeling district magistrate's office does not have records of entries in electoral rolls before 1999, leaving many worried that a key proof could be hard to obtain if the National Registrar of Citizenship (NRC) is implemented in Bengal.

The Telegraph made enquires on Monday for certified copies of names enlisted in rolls, both in the election department and the record room at the Darjeeling district magistrate's office, and was told only entries after 1999 were available.

Electoral roll entries are one of 14 documents listed as valid proof for NRC in Assam. "It seems records are lost over the years. I heard there used to be water leaks in the record room. Even other papers are in a bad state. Some said there was a practice of disposing old records," an employee of the records department said. He could not explain why documents before 1999 were lacking.

A fire had been reported in the record room some years back but it is not clear if any documents were destroyed.

Employees in the district election department offered a similar reason. "The only place to obtain information regarding old voters' lists is the directorate of state archives in Calcutta. We can provide the contact number of this office," said an employee in the election cell.

The office of the directorate of state archives traces its roots to the general record office of 1820 in British India.

Asked if records could be traced in the directorate, the employee said: "Several months ago, a resident of Assam had come seeking electoral roll details of his daughter-inlaw. We directed him to Calcutta and I was told that he could obtain the details," the employee said.

The bigger question is the trouble residents of Darjeeling might have to face in travelling to Calcutta merely to get details of names in electoral rolls before 1999. Calls and message to dis- trict magistrate Deepap Priya P. to find out whether a copy of the electoral roll records could be brought to the Darjeeling office went unanswered through the day.

Apart from electoral roll details, other admissible documents in Assam NRC exercise were land and tenancy records, citizenship certificate, permanent residential certificate, refugee registration certificate, passport, LIC, any government-issued licences/certificates, bank/post office account details, birth certificates, board/university educational certificates or court records/processes..