A section of polling officials in some of the districts would be deployed for poll duty in multiple phases as many of the districts are facing acute shortage of personnel owing to an increased number of booths in the backdrop of the pandemic.

“Some of the districts may be forced to deploy a section of polling officers in multiple phases as they are facing shortage of manpower owing to a sudden hike in the number of booths. The districts have been asked to manage the situation on their own," said a senior official.

For example, the authorities of East Burdwan have decided to deploy afresh 2,000-odd polling officials in the second phase of the elections after they work in the first phase.

“The district has 3,700-odd booths and we are falling short of some 2,000 polling officers in the second phase. This is the reason why some polling officers from the first phase would be re-deployed in the second phase too,” said a district official.

Explaining why, an official said: “In an ideal situation, the state requires about 3.5 lakh polling officers. But in the backdrop of the pandemic, the requirement is around 6 lakh.”

Some districts like West Midnapore and North 24-Parganas are yet to decide whether to re-deploy polling officers in multiple phases as the districts are trying hard to meet the requirement with the existing pool of employees.

“But we might be forced to go for redeployment of polling officers if the shortfall can’t be managed from existing manpower in the district,” said a source in West Midnapore.

This year, the number of polling stations has gone up to 1.01 lakh from 77,000-odd as the Election Commission of India (ECI) decided to bring down the maximum number of voters for a booth to 1,050. The hike in the number of booths has led to a higher requirements of polling officers. Moreover, the ECI has made it clear that there will be five polling officers in each booth instead of four. The extra official will distribute gloves and hand sanitiser to voters.

Tis year, 20 per cent of the polling officers have to be kept in reserve because of Covid-19. In a normal situation, 10 per cent of polling officers are kept in reserve, sources said.

From a total of 8.5 lakh government employees and employees of state-aided institutions like schools, officials admitted to finding it tough to engage employees to meet the poll requirement.

Barring a few districts like Malda and Birbhum, most districts will go for polls in more than one phase. “There may be a controversy on why polls are being held across so many phases in Bengal, but it is helping a few districts meet the requirement of polling officers,” said a source.

Some officials opined that if polling officials are redeployed soon, questions could arise on whether they can discharge their duties properly, considering the exertion involved.

“Working as a polling officer is hectic and strenuous….I am not sure whether an officer will be able to do his or her job properly if deployed for the second time within a gap of a few days,” said a bureaucrat.