New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief electoral officer’s (CEO) office has directed district election officers (DEOs) across the state to immediately deactivate the ECINET portal login IDs assigned to computer assistants stationed at voter registration centres (VRCs).The press release, circulated on Saturday (October 31), comes in the wake of alleged misuse of operator credentials in Pilibhit district, where 13,779 forms were found to have been erroneously entered on the ECINET platform between May 31 and August 29 this year. Of these, 10,470 forms had been approved, the inquiry revealed.CEO Navdeep Rinwa’s office said the directives have been issued to prevent operators at VRCs from misusing their login IDs to conduct any illegal activities on the voter registration portal. The order extends to all operators working in the offices of electoral registration officers (EROs) across all constituencies of the state.“After all login IDs are deactivated, confirmation of this will be obtained from the concerned electoral registration officer. District election officers will personally verify the action taken in all assembly constituencies and ensure that a compliance report is immediately provided to the chief electoral officer’s office,” the statement said.Computer assistant in the Pilibhit case to be removedThe CEO office’s communication additionally asked the agency concerned to immediately terminate the services of the outsourced computer assistant involved in the assembly constituency 127, Pilibhit, case.“The concerned firm has been directed to immediately terminate the service of the involved outsourced computer assistant in the case of Assembly Constituency 127-Pilibhit,” it said.Operators to loose portal accessThe directives will apply to 806 computer assistants deployed across the state’s various assembly constituencies.An election official told The Indian Express that the Election Commission had initially given ECINET access to computer assistants as many booth-level officers (BLOs) were not adequately trained to use the digital platform. The official added that now, with most BLOs having been trained to operate the BLO app, the need for operators has substantially reduced.“Only the BLO concerned should submit forms relating to the polling booth assigned to them now. Forms can reach the system either through online submission on the ECINET/BLO app or through physical submission, which will subsequently be digitised,” the official said.EROs will continue to have access to the system through their credentials and are expected to directly take accountability for every voter-related entry.The CEO’s office has demanded immediate compliance from all districts, warning that no laxity in implementing the instructions would be tolerated.CM Adityanath says one crore Hindu names missing from rollsMeanwhile, UP chief minister Adityanath has claimed that around 1.27 crore Hindu voters are missing from the state’s electoral rolls, asking BJP workers to coordinate with BLOs and help eligible voters to register.Speaking at the BJP’s state executive committee meeting on Friday (October 30), Adityanath said the alleged absence of voters was impacting the party’s prospects in 28 urban local body seats, reported The Telegraph. He also alleged that there was a mismatch between the state’s population estimates and the registered voter count.The CM claimed that 66 lakh people registered in panchayat voter rolls were missing, along with 55 lakh beneficiaries of government welfare schemes. He directed party workers to use the ‘Kamal Saathi’ app data to identify missing voters. MPs, MLAs and party heads in various constituencies were also asked to keep a check on the review process.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.