The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to finalise preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in their respective States and Union Territories, according to an ECI press release.
The ECI’s two-day Conference of CEOs on SIR preparedness concluded at the India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi.
During the conference, the Commission assessed progress on the directions previously issued to CEOs regarding mapping current electors with those listed in the last SIR in their respective States and UTs.
The ECI also conducted one-on-one interactions with CEOs of poll-bound States and UTs, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal. Queries raised by the CEOs were clarified following presentations by senior officers of the Commission on the SIR process.
The conference was presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in the presence of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. CEOs from across the country attended the event.
This conference followed a similar SIR preparedness meeting held on September 10, during which States and UTs provided detailed presentations on the number of electors, the qualifying date of the last SIR, and the electoral roll in their respective regions as per the previous SIR.
The move comes in the backdrop of CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s announcement for a nationwide SIR, following the SIR of the electoral roll in poll-bound Bihar. In Bihar, the final voter list totals 7.42 crore electors, down from 7.89 crore as of June 24 this year. A total of 65 lakh voters were removed from the draft list, while 3.66 lakh ineligible electors were removed from the final list. Additionally, 21.53 lakh eligible electors were added via Form 6, bringing the total to 7.42 crore voters.
-ANI