In a letter to the EC, the West Bengal government, while asking to relieve nine officers, including the Home Secretary, from the central observer’s duties, stated that they are engaged in “important duty of the state government”. The West Bengal government on Thursday sought changes in the list of central observers sent by the Election Commission and proposed alternative names for nine of the 15 IAS officers selected by the poll panel. This after the Election Commission in a rare move named West Bengal Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena as one of the central observers for the Assembly elections in other states. Apart from West Bengal, polls are scheduled this year in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. The EC asked Meena and other officials to attend the meeting of central observers scheduled for February 5 and 6, and warned them of disciplinary actions if they failed to attend.