Amid SIR Fears, Sonagachi Sex Workers Throng EC Camps; CEO Assures No Eligible Voter Will Be Excluded

PTI, KOLKATA, DEC 9, 2025 : Hundreds of sex workers from Sonagachi, Asia's largest red-light district, thronged EC assistance camps on Tuesday, with anxiety written all over their faces amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This was despite assurances from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) that not a single eligible voter would be excluded.

Many of the women, who have lived for years in the narrow lanes and congested 'kothis' of north Kolkata's Ward Number 18, expressed concerns that their names might be struck off the voters' list. They fear exclusion due to a lack of proof of ancestry or because they have long lost contact with their natal families after being trafficked, abandoned, or fleeing home decades ago.

"We are being asked about parents from a life we were forced to erase," said a woman in her early thirties, clutching her crumpled form. "Now we are scared we will be erased again," she said.

Seeking to calm these fears, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal, who visited the camp set up near Durga Charan Mitra Street, stated that of the nearly 11,000 voters in the ward, around 3,500 sex workers are yet to be covered under the enumeration drive and will be included shortly.

"We have been given special powers to include women who were not in the 2002 roll but have voted in 2021 and 2024. Their names will be protected by December 11," Agarwal told reporters.

"For those who had not voted in all those years but have other proof of citizenship, we will ensure they submit Form 6 with annexures from December 16 and have their names included in the final electoral roll, which will be published on February 14. Our target is to ensure that not a single ineligible voter's name is left out of the final roll. We will protect the democratic rights of every bona fide resident of India," he said.