EC asks West Bengal govt to comply with its directives by February 17 | India News

New Delhi: The EC has directed West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravarty to comply with its directives on payment of honorarium to BLO, appointment of suitable SIR/poll-related officials, revocation of unilateral transfer of roster observers and registration of FIR against erroneous officials by 5.30 pm on February 17.Chakravarty was summoned by the European Commission on Friday to discuss pending matters with the Bangladesh government, including matters on which the Commission had issued repeated reminders. The EC last wrote on February 4, asking the Bangladesh government to submit a compliance report by 3 pm on February 9, 2026.One of the key issues raised by the EC was the failure of the state government to pay full gratuity to BLO. So far, the Bangladesh government has paid an honorarium of Rs 7,000 to BLO, while as per EC guidelines, Rs 13,000 was due. The EC fixed an honorarium of Rs 20,000 for the BLO directors but they were not paid at all. Chakravarty has now been directed to release the pending amount immediately.The poll panel also asked Chakravarty to comply with its order of registering an FIR on August 5, 2025, against two electoral registration officers, two assistant EROs and a data entry operator, alleging failure to discharge statutory duties and violation of data security policy. The reminder in this case was last sent to West Bengal on January 2, 2026.The commission also enforced its January 25 order suspending Basirhat Assistant Electoral Registrar Sumitra Pratim Pradhan for “violating the provisions of law by deploying 11 additional personnel without authorization to conduct hearings by issuing ‘suo-motu’ orders”.The EC further directed the chief secretary to cancel the transfer orders issued by the state government to the three electoral roll observers without consulting them.