SIR exercise not linked to welfare schemes, clarifies Telangana CEO

Telangana CEO C. Sudarshan Reddy clarified that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is solely to ensure error-free digitisation and has no link to government welfare schemes. He directed officials to complete the process by August 3.

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharshan Reddy on Wednesday clarified that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll in the State has no connection with the welfare schemes being implemented by the government.

Reddy, who reviewed the SIR exercise with the District Election Officers, said the revision was only aimed at preparing an error-free electoral roll and had nothing to do with any government welfare programmes.

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Noting that only five days were left for the exercise, Reddy directed the DEOs to ensure 100 percent completion of the digitisation process by August 3. He said 76 percent of the digitisation work has been completed across the State so far, while it reached 90 percent in the rural areas.

The CEO directed respective DEOs to pay special attention to the digitisation process in urban areas, including Serilingampally, Ranga Reddy, Medchal, and the GHMC limits, as well as Nizamabad, Warangal, and Khammam and ensure the work gets completed within the deadline.

The BLOs and supervisors were directed to exercise utmost care while digitising the enumeration forms so that voters’ names are uploaded without any errors. The Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs were asked to monitor the process to ensure accuracy. He warned that disciplinary action would be initiated against BLOs and supervisors found negligent in the digitisation work.

He also instructed officials to expedite the rationalisation of polling stations in accordance with the ECI guidelines and ensure that members of the same family are mapped to the same polling station.

While preparing the list of deceased voters, shifted voters and those classified as Absent, Shifted or Dead (ASD), he said it was mandatory to obtain the signatures of BLAs representing all recognised political parties.