Congress MP Karti Chidambaram seeks clear transparent, voter-friendly SIR process

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], November 18 (ANI): Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Tuesday said that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), asserted that the electoral rolls need to be examined regularly with the addition of new voters. He also emphasised on the need for trained personnel to handle the process to avoid confusion among the public.
"Of course, the electoral role has to be checked, rechecked, and revised. Additions need to be made for people who have turned 18 and are eligible to vote. It must be an inclusionary, not an exclusionary exercise..." the Congress leader said.
"The process must be simple and must be easy to comply with. And the personnel who are carrying out that exercise must be well-trained and well-briefed. The quibble I have with this process is that the time frame given is very short, and the personnel deployed aren't adequately trained or properly briefed. So there is a lot of confusion on the ground..." he stated.
Furthermore, he stressed the professional conduct of the exercise to ensure transparency and ease among the people who will fill the SIR forms.
"They might be able to distribute the form. Many people have many questions about what to fill in the form...Yes, we must do this exercise, but this exercise must be done in a professional, transparent and easy manner for both the personnel who are carrying it out and for the voter..." he added.
Earlier today, the Election Commission delegation team arrived in Kolkata for a review meeting of the Special Intensive Revision process, which is currently underway in West Bengal.
Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti is set to chair the meeting with the Kolkata North and South DEOs and EROs to review the SIR process.
The Election Commission of India launched the second phase of SIR of electoral rolls across nine states and three Union Territories, covering nearly 51 crore electors.
The states and UTs included in this phase are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
The Enumeration Period, which began on November 4, will continue until December 4, during which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will distribute unique, partially pre-filled Enumeration Forms (EFs) to every elector. The BLOs will visit households at least three times for the distribution and collection of forms.
Electors can also verify their names and details in the previous SIR electoral rolls on the website (link unavailable) and provide the necessary information in the Enumeration Form.
To facilitate the process, over 5.3 lakh BLOs, 7.64 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs), 10,448 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs)/Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), and 321 District Election Officers (DEOs) have been deployed. Electors can seek assistance from BLOs through the "Book-a-call with BLO" facility on the ECINet App or dial the toll-free helpline at 1950 with their STD code.
The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 9, followed by a claims and objections period from December 9 to January 8, 2026. The final electoral rolls will be published on February 7, 2026. (ANI)