Many people say that notices were mainly issued to men, the heads of households and primary earners, even when entire families migrated and reside together.
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More than 9,400 migrant workers from West Bengal living in Bengaluru have returned to their hometowns after receiving the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) notices, according to the Karnataka Bengali Kalyan Samiti, formed by and for West Bengal-based workers in Bengaluru.
Most of the families working in the city, majorly from Nadia and Murshidabad, said that the short timelines mentioned in the notices left little time to arrange funds, forcing many to rely on advances from employers to travel back. Several said the disruption was not limited to travel alone, as leaving from work also meant temporary loss of work and in turn wages, as there was no clarity on when or how the verification process would conclude.
Procedural pressure
The families told The Hindu that they had started to receive notices after January 14. “Our employers told us that if we do not return to our home districts and appear for verification, our entries will be marked as unresolved during the SIR process,” said Binek Pandit, who works at a barber shop, adding that they were told that in such cases, if doubts flagged against names remain uncleared at the revision stage, the entries would not automatically be carried forward to the draft electoral rolls.
Many people said that notices were mainly issued to men, the heads of households and primary earners, even when entire families migrated and reside together. The workers said discrepancies cited included address continuity, absence from older rolls, or linkage gaps, which they argue disproportionately surface in the records of working-age men who migrate seasonally or long-term.
Political assistance and flight arrangements
Reshma Banu, a domestic worker in R.R. Nagar, said that in some constituencies in West Bengal, local political representatives helped migrant workers return by arranging flight tickets for those who had received SIR notices.
In her case, she said, her flight from Bengaluru to Kolkata was booked with the help of a local politician, after which she travelled onward to Nadia by train. She added that this made it possible for many workers to go for the verification process despite the short notice.
Comparison with 2019 CAA–NRC migration
Drawing a comparison with 2019, Ms. Banu said that during the CAA and NRC protests, many migrant workers had also returned to their villages, but often without informing their employers and for many months, before eventually returning to Bengaluru for work. This time, she noted, workers informed their employers before leaving.
For Saheb Ali Sheikh, a cook from West Bengal’s Nadia district working in Kundalahalli, the notice was issued only to him and his brother, even though nine members of his family live in Bengaluru. Mr. Sheikh said the family had moved to the city nearly five years ago as part of a group of around 100 people and had been working continuously since then. He said that though he had all the required documents, he was given time until January 26 to respond. Unable to arrange travel and finances at such short notice, Mr. Sheikh said he managed to reach Nadia only by January 25, a day before the deadline. He and his brother took an advance from their employer to cover travel costs, flying to Kolkata and travelling onward by road to Nadia.
A similar uncertainty followed Sahreef Ul Sheik, who owns and runs a garage in Balagere and received his SIR notice on January 14. He said he submitted all documents, including his passport, during verification, but was told that inclusion of his name would depend on record consistency, as his father’s name does not appear in the 2002 voter list, though his grandfather’s name is present. Mr. Sheik travelled by train from Bengaluru to Howrah and then to Nadia by bus, a journey that took over 36 hours.
Published – January 25, 2026 09:47 pm IST
