New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday announced the rollout of Phase-III of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 16 states and three Union Territories, while deferring the exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh citing weather-related and operational challenges in snow-bound and high-altitude areas.
According to the Election Commission, the SIR exercise will begin in a staggered manner from May 30 and will cover nearly 36.73 crore electors across the country. However, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been excluded from the current phase due to difficult terrain conditions and the pending completion of Phase-II of the Census exercise.
In a press note, the poll body said the schedule for Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh would be announced separately at a later stage.
“After considering the completion of Phase-II of the Census in these three State/UTs and due consideration of the weather in the upper reaches and snow-bound areas, SIR schedule for these three State/UTs will be announced later,” the EC said.
The Commission added that the rollout in these regions has been deferred because field deployment in several upper reaches and remote areas is presently not feasible due to climatic and logistical constraints.
The states and Union Territories where Phase-III of the SIR will be conducted include Delhi, Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Tripura, Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar appealed to voters to actively participate in the revision exercise.
“I appeal to all electors to enthusiastically participate in Phase-III of the Special Intensive Revision and fill their enumeration forms,” he said.
The Chief Election Commissioner stated that the objective of the SIR exercise is to ensure that only eligible voters remain on the electoral rolls while removing ineligible entries.
As part of the revision process, more than 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct door-to-door verification of electors. They will be assisted by nearly 3.42 lakh Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties during the enumeration process.
The Election Commission said the final electoral rolls for different states and UTs will be published in phases between September and December this year. The revised rolls for Odisha, Sikkim, Mizoram and Manipur are scheduled to be published on September 6, while Delhi, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and Jharkhand will see publication on October 7. The final rolls for Tripura will be released on December 23.
The Commission also issued instructions to Chief Electoral Officers stating that if enumeration forms are not returned, Booth Level Officers must identify probable reasons such as death, migration, duplication or absence after local inquiry.
Following directions issued by the Supreme Court during the Bihar revision process, Aadhaar card has now been included as the 12th accepted identity document for the exercise.
The EC further directed state governments that no official associated with the SIR exercise should be transferred without prior approval of the Commission.
The Special Intensive Revision has already been conducted in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, while Assam underwent a separate “special revision” exercise.
The Commission stated that once Phase-III is completed, the entire country except Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh would have been covered under the SIR exercise.
Meanwhile, the revision exercise has triggered political debate in several states. Opposition parties have raised concerns over the process, alleging that the exercise could be misused to selectively target voters. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had reportedly approached the Supreme Court opposing the revision exercise in the state.
The Election Commission had earlier claimed during preparations for the Bihar SIR that some suspected foreign nationals from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar were detected by field-level officials, though no official figures or detailed evidence were later made public.
The combined electoral rolls of nine states and three Union Territories covered during the previous phase reportedly witnessed a reduction of around 10.2 per cent, with over 60 lakh deceased voters removed from the database.
