EC to consider nationwide SIR; Announcement likely before Bihar polls end

India might see a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by October as a day-long crucial meeting between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) from all states and Union Territories concluded in the national capital.

This was the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February.

While senior EC officials made a presentation on the SIR policy of the Commission, the chief electoral officer of Bihar shared the state’s experience in implementing the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.

According to a report by India Today, the proposal has been approved, and an official announcement may come before the Bihar Assembly elections conclude.

CEOs to prepare basic groundwork by Sept

It is alleged that the CEOs assured the ECI that basic groundwork would be completed by September. They have been directed to prepare a list of documents, locally accepted and easily available, that can be used for verifying voters during the revision, sources told India Today.

As part of the special intensive revision, poll officials will carry out house-to-house verification to ensure an error-free voters’ list. The primary aim of the intensive revision is to identify illegal foreign migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal foreign migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

There are indications that the exercise would commence later this year, ahead of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026.

Also Read

Nationwide SIR: How Hyderabad voters can correct details online Amid vote chori allegations, ECI introduces declaration form

Amid vote chori allegations by Opposition parties, mainly the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party (SP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and other INDIA bloc members, the ECI has taken additional steps in the intensive revision to ensure illegal migrants do not get enrolled in the voters’ list.

An additional ‘declaration form’ has been introduced for a category of applicants seeking to become electors or those shifting from outside the state. They will have to prove that they were born in India before July 1, 1987 and provide any document establishing the date of birth and/or place of birth.

One of the options listed in the declaration form is that they were born in India between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004.

They will also have to submit documents about the date and place of birth of their parents.

(With inputs from PTI)

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