Single phase SIR in Jharkhand from April; EC cancels irregular applications

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has completed preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Jharkhand, scheduled to begin in April.

Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said the revision would be conducted in a single phase. This will be the ninth SIR exercise in the country, with eight such revisions completed earlier.

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As per the Commission’s directive, the identity of all voters residing in the state will be verified. Preparations have been made at every level, from Booth Level Officers to the state headquarters.

Following the formal notification, door to door verification of voters will be carried out across Jharkhand.

Meanwhile, scrutiny of applications received from other states during similar revision drives has led to the rejection of hundreds of claims supported by alleged Jharkhand documents.

According to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, 2,769 applications were received from West Bengal. Of these, 316 were found invalid due to discrepancies in the attached documents.

From Chhattisgarh, 14 out of 106 applications were rejected. In Goa, 12 out of 69 were cancelled. Two out of 25 applications from Madhya Pradesh were rejected.

Similarly, six out of 109 applications from Gujarat, three out of 58 from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, six out of 25 from Rajasthan and nine out of 44 from Uttar Pradesh were found invalid.

In total, 368 out of 3,208 applications received so far have been cancelled after verification revealed irregularities in the submitted documents.

The 2003 electoral roll will serve as the base for the upcoming SIR in Jharkhand. The Commission said the objective of the intensive revision is to ensure inclusion of all eligible citizens while preventing ineligible persons from being enrolled.

The exercise also aims to bring transparency in the addition and deletion of names from the voters’ list.

Ravi Kumar said individuals whose names appear in the 2003 voters’ list will not be required to establish their eligibility again. Those not listed may prove eligibility on the basis of parents or other household members whose names were recorded in the 2003 roll.

Various valid government documents have been notified as proof for verification.

Persons born before July 1, 1987 will have to submit proof of date and place of birth. Those born between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004 must provide proof of their own date and place of birth along with documents of either parent.

Individuals born after December 2, 2004 will need to furnish proof of date and place of birth for both themselves and their parents.