- SIR in Hyderabad to begin in April across Telangana districts
- BLO mistakes during SIR process may lead to voter notices
Hyderabad: SIR in Hyderabad will begin in April as part of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls across Telangana. The process will also take place in other districts of the state. As the exercise approaches, lessons from Phase II of the revision conducted in 12 states and Union Territories have drawn attention to possible mistakes by Booth Level Officers.
The Election Commission of India is conducting the Special Intensive Revision through AI based software. The process is also fully online. However, many BLOs who are not comfortable with technology faced difficulties during Phase II of the exercise. Meanwhile, some BLOs were unclear about the rules. As a result, their errors led to unnecessary notices at later stages of the process.
During the Special Intensive Revision, BLOs must map voters with the previous SIR records. If a voter’s name appears in the 2002 list, linking the entry becomes simple. However, if the name does not appear in the earlier list, voters must connect their details through relatives whose names exist in the older electoral roll.
Some errors by BLOs during Phase II showed how mistakes can occur in the process. In many cases, even when both parents were listed, officers mapped all children only with the father. However, when more than six voters were linked to a single person, the system generated notices. This issue could have been avoided by dividing the mapping of children between both parents when possible.
Another issue involved linking voters with maternal grandparents. Despite instructions from the Election Commission of India, some BLOs hesitated to accept maternal grandmother or maternal grandfather details during the mapping process. However, the training material prepared for the revision in West Bengal states that if an elector’s name does not appear in the last revision, information about father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, or other relatives can be entered.
The online standard operating procedure for filling SIR enumeration forms also provides three options for voters. They can state that their name exists in the last SIR roll. They can also declare that their parents or grandparents’ names exist. The third option applies when neither exists. Since the procedure does not distinguish between maternal or paternal grandparents, both sides are valid for linking.
Election officials in states such as Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have reiterated this interpretation. They clarified that grandparents from both maternal and paternal sides are valid for voter linking. Recently, speaking with Siasat.com, a BLO supervisor, Muneer, from the Bahadurpura Assembly constituency also confirmed that both maternal and paternal grandparents are considered relatives for the purpose of SIR.
According to the Election Commission of India, relatives that can be used for linking include father, mother, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, paternal grandfather, and paternal grandmother. Although most BLOs understand this rule, confusion among some officers has resulted in voters being denied linking with maternal grandparents.
As SIR in Hyderabad begins next month, clarity among BLOs is considered important. Proper mapping can reduce the workload of electoral registration officers and prevent unnecessary notices to voters. Meanwhile, voters can report issues to higher authorities if BLOs do not follow the Election Commission rules. They can also consider filling the enumeration form online.
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