Hyderabad Mosque offers free help for electoral roll SIR registration

Masjid-e-Teenposh in Hyderabad's Red Hills is helping residents complete Special Intensive Revision (SIR) applications for electoral rolls free of cost. Young software engineers volunteer their time to assist senior citizens and others, turning the mosque into a community service centre.

Hyderabad: A mosque is much more than a place where people gather five times a day for prayers. At its best, it is a centre of compassion, learning and service to humanity.

Masjid-e-Teenposh in Red Hills is living up to that ideal by extending a helping hand to people in need.

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These days, the mosque and the adjoining Imdadul Uloom Madrasa have taken on an additional role. Three young software engineers are seated before their laptops, helping residents complete the online enrollment process for the SIR of the electoral rolls.

The initiative was started after Moulana Obaidur Rahman Athar, Khateeb of Masjid-e-Teenposh, noticed the anxiety among people struggling to complete the online formalities. Realising that many, especially senior citizens and those unfamiliar with technology, he enlisted the services of computer-savvy youngsters from the locality.

In one room at the madrasa, children are busy memorising the Holy Quran while a few steps away, residents wait with Aadhaar cards, EPIC cards and photographs as volunteers upload documents.

“We are doing this purely as a service,” says Muhammad Amjad, an employee of Tata Tele Services at Shamshabad. Along with fellow software engineers Irshad and Laeeq, he has been dedicating several hours every day to assist people free of cost.

While internet centres and Photoshop stores are charging between Rs 100 and Rs 200 for filing each SIR form, here, the service is completely free.

“It gives me immense satisfaction to help people,” says Laeeq, who works for a software company in Gachibowli.

For the visitors, the mosque has become more than a place of worship – it has become a source of comfort and support during a stressful time.