SIR begins in Delhi tomorrow: Key dates, required documents and everything you need to know
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the national will begun 30 June with house-to-house verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Election officials
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the national will begun 30 June with house-to-house verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Election officials said the exercise is aimed at ensuring that the electoral rolls remain accurate and up to date ahead of future elections. Along with Delhi, SIR also begins in Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and Jharkhand on Tuesday, 30 June. Also Read | EC deleted 6 crore names in one year since SIR began Addressing a press conference on Monday, Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Alok Kumar said the exercise will begin on June 30, Tuesday with house-to-house verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Key SIR dates in Delhi In Delhi, the SIR will continue till July 29. After this, the draft electoral roll will be published on August 5. The period for filing claims and objections will continue from August 5 to September 4, while the notice phase and disposal of claims and objections will take place from August 5 to October 3. Finally, the publication of the final electoral roll is scheduled for October 10. “During the exercise, BLOs will visit every household to distribute pre-printed enumeration forms in duplicate to existing electors and assist them in filling them. If a voter is unavailable, the form will be handed over to an adult family member or left at the residence if it is locked,” Kumar said on Monday. The BLOs are expected to make at least three visits to collect the filled forms. One copy of the submitted form will be retained by the BLO, while the other, carrying an acknowledgement of receipt, will remain with the elector, Kumar said. At present, there are 1,45,10,298 voters in Delhi. This includes 67,98,142 women and 1,024 third gender voters.
More than 13,000 BLOs have been deployed for the exercise and will visit households to verify the details of existing voters, identify eligible new voters and facilitate corrections in the electoral rolls. SIR acrimony between EC and oppostion The SIR of electoral rolls, which has so far led to the deletion of nearly six crore voters, has completed one year, news agency PTI said on 26 June. The exercise, which triggered acrimony between the Opposition and the Election Commission, continues in as many as nineteen states and Union territories, with the Supreme Court upholding its constitutional validity. The pilot SIR exercise began in Bihar on 24 June last year, ahead of the assembly polls. Post Bihar SIR, its voters' list was pruned by nearly 65 lakh amid allegations by opposition and activists that the poll authority was working at the behest of the BJP to disenfranchise citizens for want of documents. In March, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the EC's constitutional validity in carrying out SIR. House-to-house enumeration During the SIR, BLOs will conduct house-to-house enumeration. Every existing elector whose name exists in the electoral roll will be made available an Enumeration Form through BLOs. The elector has to fill the enumeration form, filling his/her required details and has to return one copy to the BLO. "If BLO finds that any house is locked or closed at the time of enumeration, she/he shall slip the Enumeration Forms in the house and make at least three visits to collect filled-up Forms. Despite this, if someone is unable to receive the form, they can also fill it out online," Kumar said earlier. "For the convenience of the general public, the voter list of the last Special Intensive Revision held in the year 2002 in Delhi has been uploaded on the website of the CEO, Delhi.
The BriefWire