10 August 2008

Write your observations on Quality Checking in this Blog

DM Nadia, OC Election Howrah, OC Election Bankura and others are writing their personal experiences and observations on Quality Checkings done by them, in this blog. See "Comments" under the previous Blog Post. Startling revelations are coming to light: for example, DM Nadia tells me that there are two parts without any images (Photo rolls without photos!) .
-I call upon all Election Managers to join the Quality Check Drive, read others' comments and add your own for all to see.
--CEO,WB
PS: I don't know if all election managers know that we've released on 31.7.08 a book called "Electoral Registration - A Quick Reference for all Election Managers". This is being sent to all DEOs, EROs, AEROs etc. In case anyone wants to collect it from our office, we'd be happy to hand over a copy.

28 comments:

Unknown said...

Sir,
I have checked following parts. Findings are as

A) For part no 238/ 27 (1) 6 Electors with EPIC No. were found without photo in Photo Electoral Roll. (2) One mismatch was found.
B) For part no 242/27 (1) 5 Electors with EPIC no were found without photo in photo electoral roll. (2) Four mismatches were found. (3) Same photo is printed against two electors. All the Sl. No. of Electors are recorded and be handed over to WTL.
C) Earlier same photo was found printed against 23 different electors in the part no 242/ 2 and 17 different electors in the part no 244 /158, those error have been got rectified through WTL.

D.M. & D.E.O.
Purulia

Anonymous said...

sir,
i checked 253/14 and 253/15 today at ghutgoria. 1 mismatch came into notice. the voter was female but the pix was that of a male. besides, whst i found that several photos were very much indistinct, causing a decline in the quality of the photo electoral roll.
for your very ,kind info.
dibya n chatterjee.
bdo. barjora.

Anonymous said...

Sir
I have checked 12 parts till now.I am not repeating about the errors which others have already stated.Besides these
( 1 )I have found in some parts the images are partly printed i.e. say 1/2 or 1/4 of the image is printed and below it *rB is written .For e.g.224 A.C. Part No 64 Sl Nos 27,30,453,474,480 etc. What should we do ?
( 2 )Another problem is that some images which seem to be scanned from form 001C are too small and of so poor quality that nothing is identifiable. For e.g. 223 A.C. Part 142 Sl Nos 50,79 ,364,365etc.Should they be removed ?
( 3 ) Sir can we get a soft copy of duplicate images of each part ? It is becoming impossible to identify repeated images if they don't appear in the same page.
( 4 )To remove wrong images, in certain cases field veifiation is required as in some cases whether the image is wrong or the sex given is wrong is not clear.But the time is too short compared to the work load.
Sharmistha Banerjee
O/C Election
Paschim Medinipur

Anonymous said...

Sir,
I am really excited of having such a glaring Book at my hand.After giving a quick glance I have got the impression that it will definitely serve us as a ready reckoner which in turn will increase our capacity building and create benchmark of quality control.So we are really thankful to you.
I have two suggestions-
1)We shall be benefited at large if a similar type of Book on "Conduct of Elections" is made available to us.
2)This Book will definitely add value if the latest Amendments of the R.P Act-1950 & 1951 and Election Laws in this regard is incorporated.
Thanking You once again,

Krittibas Nayak
O/C Election,
Howrah.

CEO's Blog said...

Purulia: OK, but please see that mismatched images are indeed removed in FP roll.
BDO Barjora: Noted. Please see that the mismatched image is removed.
OC Election, Howrah: I'm happy to note that you've found our book helpful
-CEO

Election Department, Hooghly said...

Sir,
As per your instruction for the quality control of Electoral Roll, we have informed all SDOs, EROs, BDOs, AEROs and Dos/BLOs to check the Electoral Roll thoroughly for the detection of mistakes in Electoral Roll.
We have supplied standard proforma for the same to all concern to maintain uniformity.
Personally I have visited sixteen polling stations and gone through the Electoral Roll of 4 polling stations. My observations are given below:
There are some mistakes: -
1) in Front Page of Electoral Roll.
2) that is Mismatched of images in respect of sex and age.
3) that is Repetitions of images have been detected in two Polling Stations in Hooghly District i.e. Part No. 106 under 200-Arambagh (S.C.) A.C. and Part No. 144 under 189-Chandannagar A.C.
Errors have already been corrected by WTL and supplied to DOs and Political Parties.
4)that is Duplicate voters.
5) that is Sex and relation.
All DOs have been instructed to submit their Roll checking Proforma report to concerned SDOs/BDOs by 12.08.08 for compilation of report.
All detected mistakes in Roll will be corrected in suo-moto basis.
Yours faithfully,
O.C.Election,Hooghly.

CEO's Blog said...

OC Election West Midnapore. My responses are as follows:
(1)Remove the photos
(2)Remove photos
(3) We want to identify mistakes that are obvious: so for stray, distant duplicate images, we'll have to rely on form 8 etc. So, no, we're not going to look at soft copies of images now.
(4)My advice is to remove images if there is a mismatch between the stated sex and the image, without field verification in view of time constraint. Our image percentage will go down slightly (from 95%), but there will be less problem on the poll day.

CEO's Blog said...

Hoogly: Good work. I'll discuss more with you tomorrow in course of my visit to Arambag & Chinsurah.
-CEO, 11.8.2008

O/C Election said...

Discrepancy in Draft Photo Roll [Published on 31.07.08.] :-
District North 24 Parganas
Sir .
Most respectfully I would like to bring to your kind notice regarding obvious mistakes detected till date in Photo Electoral Roll . The quality checking is under process after getting all the error list the abridged report will be placed to your end.

1] Wrong Spelling On account of Transliteration :

Parts affected :- 25 Parts[147-171] under 114 Dum Dum , 157 parts (All) under 115 Rajarhat New Town , 13 Parts [126-130 , 161-168 ,] under 116 Bidhannagar AC – and 54 parts [97 -150] under 117 Raharhat Gopalpur AC .

2] Repetitive Voter’s Name and other Datas , Different EPIC : -

96 Bongaon [Dakshin] SC , Part No. 43 from Sl No. 685 to 744 (Except Sl No. 693, 727, 743) the voter’s name , husband’s name, EPIC No. , NHN , Age Sex are same ! - namely Aparna Majumdar , Sanjit Majumdar , HCL 1920990 , 044 , 27 , Female.

3] Wrong Supplement Transposition from Non Delimited to Delimited Part : The supplement of Finally published Roll of Non Delimited AC -132 , Part 12 had 33 additions , 14 Deletions and 02 Corrections. On scrutiny of respective Delimited / transposed part it revealed that out of 33 additions 2 additions were not duly integrated, 14 Deleted names reappear in new part in AC 107, Part No. 66 .

Other findings follows .

Yours faithfully.
Officer In Charge
Election Department
North 24 Parganas

O/C Election said...

Sir ,
In reference to Quality Checking of Electoral Roll we have devised 5 formats against –
[1] Front Page Correction .
[2] Mother Roll Correction ,
[3] Spelling [Only] for ACs where Transliteration took place .
[4] EPIC – Mismatch – Sex wrong & Duplicate etc.
[5] Wrong Section integration .

The above mentioned formats are being send to you through email .
Along with this we are also given a synoptic instruction from ADM’s (Election) Desk which is also being placed herewith.
We are hopeful that all respective checking would be placed to District end within 18.08.2008. so that we can take up the corrections through data base.
Link Table : Sir, we are yet to get the Link Table from WTL sans which the De-Duplication [Same EPIC No.] work , Identification of Voters etc. is quite time consuming and tough . Sir, we desperately need this link table for correct photo roll checking.

Yours faithfully.

Officer In Charge
Election Department
North 24 Parganas


Quality control drive checking of Draft Photo Electoral Rolls :
Ref : Memo No. 195(19) /WBCE/08 KOLKATA : 05/08/2008

FEW INSTRUCTIONS:-
FROM ADDITIONAL DISTRICT MAGISTRATE ‘S [ELECTION] DESK:
NORTH 24 PARAGANAS
To
All ERO(s) & AERO(s)

 Identify one set of Roll for this quality checking.
 Divide the workload – Earmark your Parts (ERO/AERO) [ 3 % of Total Parts under your Assembly Constituency ] entrust BLOs & DOs .
 A single Part should not be cross checked by different officer, it may lead cumbersome reporting as well delay in reporting.
 Chief Electoral Officer said in Blog that there should be a “Zero tolerance” to this quality control. We must check every single data starting from the header of the FP to last line of the Mother Roll by means of combing effect.
 Every single error detected in Top Sheet or Mother Roll should be corrected on the body of the Photo Electoral Roll itself.
 Every correction should be made in red colour ink repeat in red colour ink for easy detection.
 For Sequential Identical error you don’t have to mention each Sl No. in different cell, depict Range of Sl No. s.
 Along with checking on the body of the Roll one Excel Reporting Sheet should also be placed , we acknowledge that this would make the task voluminous at the same time this kind of abridged Excel Sheet [Table] report would definitely help us to track the rectification process and any chasm may be clipped down immediately .
 Report should be prepared Part wise and accordingly placed to District Election Cell .
 Every single correction made should be kept in record and we must ensure that those corrections are taken care of .
 Four kind of Excel formats are being designed –
[1] For FP Corrections – probable Type of Error /Nature of Discrepancy noted in footer which is illustrative not exhaustive. [Annexure-A]
[2] For Mother Roll. [Annexure-B]
[3] Only Spelling Mistake :- This format is against ACs / Parts whereby transliteration took place [eg:-AC 115 – all Parts, AC 117 – 97-150 , AC 114 – 25 parts , AC 116 – Parts coming from 107 Bhangar] any other type of mistake (except spelling) noted in these parts should be depicted in respective format . [Annexure-C]
[4] EPIC :- A separate format given . In few cases Suo Moto correction may be done. For Photo Mismatch – respective Photo should be removed. [Annexure-D]
[5] Wrong Section Integration – Please See An – E
 Procure a certificate from the respective Officer that all obvious errors have been detected against respective part and accordingly checked on the roll and reported.
 AC wise Cross checked & Corrected parts i.e. Photo Roll duly signed by respective ERO must be placed to the District Election Office On 14.08.2008. As because you have already given several rounds of cross checking, please place the report with a separate forwarding / heading “CORRECTION AFTER DRAFT PUBLICATION ON 31.07.2008”. District Administration ensure you that all corrections would be incorporated, please co-operated with us.
 For parts where no corrections are being required a NIL report should be given by the respective officer.
 Don’t place the reports in fragmentation. Place report AC-wise.


Sd/-
Additional District Magistrate [Election]
North 24 Parganas

Unknown said...

Sir,
Regarding your reply to the query of OC,Elec.-Howrah dtd.10/8/08, that issue of notice is not reqd. to correct obvious mistakes suo motu, a few questions has come up to my mind.
As per proviso to S.22 of R.P. Act,1950, it is OBLIGATORY on the part of ERO to give the affected person "opportunity of being heard"
before making any sort of correction, which obviously include removal of image from Roll.
So, photo removal without sending notice to concerned elector, in my opinion, will be untenable from the point of law.
I have checked total of 8 Parts by now personally & in light of some facts that I came across, I like to explicate why issue of notices in conformity with legal provisions is reqd.-
Case-I: Rabi Ghosh;F-Sital;Age-22; Sex-M;image of F (a case of obvious photo mismatch apparently) --- elector may turn up to contend displaying the EPIC that my name is Rubi & (NOT Rabi);Sex to be changed as F; Photograph is mine. So, jumping to the conclusion that image is incorrect & subsequent removal by ERO ex-parte will be an imprudent decision & inflict an injustice by rendering her a non-photo entity.
Case-II: Mansa Barui;H-Shankar;Age-32;Sex-F;image of M (Again a case of obvious photo mismatch apparently)--- During hasty checking by ERO the fact may elude his eyes that in the same family(H No.-n0227)there is other entry, Bhairab Bauri;F- Shankar;Age-35; thereby rendering mother age less than son age. Also in the next page there is another entry in the same house No.Jyotsna Bauri;H-Mansaram;
Age-28.(Such type of elusion is not very unlikely).After this detail analysis it appears to be most likely that the image is correct but both relationship & sex incoeerct.(Also the image appears to be of a male of age 32 around). But ERO cannot make a decision unless elector turns up & states his case.
--So my humble question is, whether ERO can do anything in contravention of any Act of Parliament(R.P.Act)? Won't it do many wrongful photo removal?
-- Your esteemed counsel is solicited.
-OC Election, Bankura.

CEO's Blog said...

OC Election North 24-Paraganas: I read with interest your two blog comments. It seems somehow that the WTL works in your district is often below par. However, please ensure that the errors detected are rectified in the FP rolls.
Instructions issued by ADM(E) are also very specific and clear. Good work (and I hope other districts are observing it too).
-CEO

CEO's Blog said...

OC Election Bankura:
I'd ask you to read Election Commission of India's instruction no. 23/PhotoRoll/2006-PLN dt 28.7.2006. I quote a portion from this:
"..The Commission has directed that in all cases of mismatch of images and poor quality beyond recognition,...the wrong images or unrecognisable images appearing in the draft electoral roll shall be removed..."
Our goal is to have error-free rolls. I'd expect everybody to contribute towards achieving this goal. If the ERO feels that a quick enquiry may sometimes be necessary, so be it: he is not forbidden to do so. But as I explained in my earlier blog, I'll have a zero telerance if obvious errors (for example, 53 consecutive repeated images ) persist in the finally published roll on 15.9.08
-CEO

Anonymous said...

sir,I have checked alltogether 6 parts .Mistakes are mainly two types of gender mismatch .1) all other descriptions including photo is correct except sex and 2)other type is image mismatch.Apparently no image repitition is found.
In one top sheet,name of ps is written twice.In other case,though one ps exists in the premise,room no 2 is printed after name of school.So far 9 cases of gross mistake (photo repitition/section interchange etc) noticed so far,we will take action as per instructions.-OC elec Bdn

CEO's Blog said...

OC Election Burdwan: OK, that's fine.

Unknown said...

Sir,

ADM(Election) has checked part no. 239/27 Balarampur AC. Findings are as:-

1. Sl No 276, 385 and 813 show male voters with female images which are mismatched. Similarly Sl. No.905 gender shows ‘F’ which should be ‘M’.

2. Sl No. 3 shows photograph of male voter in place of female voter which is mismatched.

3. Elector having EPIC number with no image in roll (Sl. 589 & 740)

ERO of AC 242 & 243 has checked part no. 242/27& 243/27. Findings are as:-

1. AC 242, Part No. 27

A. Images at Sl. No 15, 23,458,480, 1020, 1035, 1096, 1115 appear to be of same person
B. Sl. No 86,467, 664, electors having EPIC number but without image
C. SL. No 132,923, 1321 gender mistake
D. Relation name mismatch Sl. 1321 & 1322

2. AC 243, Part No. 27

A. At Sl No. 88,99,100,106,314, electors having EPIC number but without image
B. At Sl No. 360 mistake in gender

ERO of 240 & 241 has checked part no. 240/27& 241/27. Findings are as:-

1. AC 240, Part No. 27

A. Sl. 179 electors having EPIC number but without image

2. AC 241, Part No. 27

A. Sl. 29, 117, 149, 225, 271, 660, 903 image mismatch

B. Sl. No. 106, 108 electors having EPIC number but without image

C. Sl. 15,23,98 gender mistake

ERO of 244 AC has checked part no. 244/27. Findings are as:-

1. AC 244, Part No. 27

A. Sl. No.605 gender mistake
B. Sl. No. 395 & 396 names of elector and their husbands are same and age also same even though images and EPIC numbers are different.


ERO of 245 AC has checked part no. 245/27. Findings are as:-

1. AC 245, Part No. 27

A. Sl. No.100, 106, 108,160, 688 and 739 gender mistakes

B. Sl. No. 182 & 183, age of wife and husband varies widely
C. Sl. No. 219 & 323 - ages have been shown against these two electors as 111 years which need to be verified.

2. AC 246, Part No. 27

A. Sl. No 19 & 21 images appear to be same but the EPIC numbers are different.

B. Sl. No. 394 gender mistake

C. SL. No 644 & 649mother’s age shows less the son’s age

Yours faithfully

District Magistrate &
District Election Officer
Purulia

Unknown said...

I visited Part No. 112, 113 and 113 of 85 Krishnagar Dakshin AC, Bhatjangla along with BDO Krishnagar-I. Roll reading was done sitting at grocery shop and booth level. My observations are as follows :-

1. In part No. 112 serial number 17, 118, 226, 350, 555, 557, 562, 701, 715 and part number 113 serial number 566, 596 the image of elector is half cut and each half superimposed. More such errors were detected in other parts of this block. Actually, the image is split during printing/ processing and spread in such a way that it looks like double image of each elector printed on the roll.
2. Image mismatch or no photo print, though EPIC number is printed could be detected against serial number 233, 466, 481, 524, 686, 855, 1086, 1097 of part 112; 908, 1296, 1351, 1387, 1410 of part 113 and 661, 1132, 1133, 1021, 1303 of part 114.

3. Dead electors could be identified during roll revision against serial number 427, 434 and 467 of part 114.
4. Spelling mistakes in surname could also be noted.

5. Form 7 applications filed is Nil in all three parts. DO were advised to get Form 7 filed by family members in case of dead/ shifted.

Other wise the rolls are error free in these three parts. It is found that one of the three DOs did massive roll checking and reading in presence of electors thereby identifying most of the errors.
All EROs, AEROs needs to ensure that Quality Checking drive initiated by Hon'ble CEO takes place in true spirit.

Onkar Singh Meena

CEO's Blog said...

Purulia: Seen the detailed observations. I'm taking out print-outs and compiling the mistakes for taking up with WTL at the State level.
But, please correct errors detected in FP Roll.

CEO's Blog said...

DM Nadia (Onkar): I'm thinking of ranking the role of DMs in this Quality Control drive and right now, you're in the lead, Onkar.(So Congrats!) Please also publish in this blog a few details of the DO about whom you have mentioned, who is doing a great job (what is his name, where he normally works, what is his motivation to do a good work, any other highlights etc.)
-CEO,WB

O/C Election said...

Sir , regarding repetitive name etc. of part No. 43 of AC 96 Bongaon Dakshin AC - after having the mail from District Office , they have corrected and send the PDF in 4 shared.com , we have given the copy to respective ERO & AEROs for intensive checking of the said part and if fuond correct then only the respective 3 pages can be supplemented and could be replaced . So I think this issue is being closed. We are having the ERROR List Both in Roll & in Excel format , from 18th onwards we would converge to data base correction at SDO's end.
y/f
O/C Election N 24 PGS - Pralay .

Election Department, Hooghly said...

Sir,
I would like to inform you that today i.e. on 13.08.08, I have visited polling station no. 90 and 93 under 193-Saptagram Assembly Constituency along with my Officer-in-Charge. These two polling stations are located within the area of Ganges Jute Mill, where substantial number of the electors are labourers of the said mill. Personally I talked with the electors as well as local people including labourers to get information about the nature of shifting of voters.
From their statements we came to know that 41 numbers of electors have been shifted, 4 electors are dead under polling station number 90 and 12 electors have been shifted, 9 electors are dead under polling station number 90 of the said Assembly Constituency. I have advised our designated officer to issue hearing notice u/s 22 of R.P. Act 1950 for giving hearing opportunity.
I came to know from two person that their names not being enrolled in Electoral Roll inspite of submission of claims for inclusion. On query they also admitted that they were failure to establish their family linkage as well as residential and age proof. Booth Level Officer also replied that some labourers seasonally stay there, maximum two or three months, only their names not being enrolled but other people as well as labourers of the said mill facing no troubles for their enrollment in Electoral Roll which was also supported by the labourers present in the said venue.
I personally checked electoral roll of part no. 90, where two images detected as mismatched in respect of sex and three gender particulars are incorrect in respect of name and image of electors.
I have advised my Booth Level Officer to check the Roll to detect mismatched images, repetition of images and duplicate voters etc.
Yours faithfully,
Asraf Ali Mullick
ADM(Election),Hooghly.

Unknown said...

Sir,
Thanks for your appreciation. We in Nadia have ensured that each part is checked personally by DO and one of the AERO. It's interesting but time consuming exercise for some of us like EROs/ DM & DEO, since works like Panchayat reconstitution, trainings and BPL data entry is also going on simultaneously. I have to mention two points :-
1. In response to my earlier blog and your Query the DO I referred is one Mr. Ashok Ghosh GP Karmee of Bhatjangla GP in Krishnagar-I. He was GP member 10 years back and a local resident. He is dynamic worker, popular in the area and knows all residents of GP by face. Contrary to that, some of the teachers appointed as DOs are not so proactive.
2. I think BDOs must be declared EROs instead of busy offices like DPRDO, DPLO, DWO etc. who can not do justice to their responsibilities as ERO considering their own work load. Moreover, BDOs does all the revision work in their area , though they are one of the AERO like other block officers. This issue was also raised by some of the observers during last Election.

We have received Quality Drive reports from all BDOs and EROs including that of ADMs and DM. Report as desired shall be faxed on 18.08.2008
Onkar Singh Meena

CEO's Blog said...

DEO/DM Nadia (Onkar): I quite accept that DMs are busy, but again it is busy and efficient DMs like you who are able to lead the Team District by personal example; you do 1% the Team District follows with 99%; and that's the electoral pattern throughout India...Your thought on EROs is worth pondering, but then, do we forget about SDOs too? And what about ACs overlapping with Blocks?

CEO's Blog said...

ADM(Hugly) & OC(Election) N-24 Pgnas:
Noted your observations. We're compiling a master error report list.

O/C Election said...

Sir,
This time it is Same Photo [EPIC] imprinted on Photo Roll against Different persons . This has been detected in part No. 165 of AC 99 Baduria , from Sl No. – 593 -611 . Correct Photo is against Sl No. 602 – Sri Bipradas Bannerjee . We have kept this In record and Intimation given to WTL also necessary correction would be taken up in due course (before FP)
Yours faithfully ,
Pralay Majumdar
O/C Election N-24 Paraganas .

CEO's Blog said...

OC Election N-24 Pgnas: OK, and please see to it that the mistakes don't recur in FP rolls.

Anonymous said...

there are several queries asking for full postal address of CEO's office

Anonymous said...

Sir,
Are all election notifications issued keeping in view the urban areas only?