Pune: The State Election Commission (SEC) is awaiting a reply from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on its request to conduct the proposed special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra after the local body polls, likely to be held post-Diwali.In late July, the state election commissioner wrote to the ECI citing staff shortage and pressure on election machinery due to ward formation and bifurcation of rolls. “We are yet to hear from the ECI regarding our letter. No schedule has been announced for any state except Bihar,” a senior SEC official told TOI.The matter is expected to come up during the nationwide meeting of chief electoral officers (CEOs) scheduled on Sept 10, the official said.While the meeting is an annual review, officials said the rollout of SIR is likely to be taken up. “It will be a general discussion, with opinions sought from all CEOs,” an ECI source said.Senior officials added that the meeting will cover several issues, and the “contemporary matter of SIR” is bound to figure in the deliberations.On June 24, the ECI issued an order to carry out the SIR across the country “for the discharge of its constitutional mandate to protect the integrity of electoral rolls”.The exercise began in Bihar, where assembly elections are due, while the schedule for other states was left open.Officials pointed out that conducting SIR across all states alongside the annual special summary revision (SSR), which runs between Oct and Dec, could risk duplication of efforts. “SIR requires a more elaborate enumeration phase and will need to start a month earlier than SSR,” an official said.Under SIR, block-level officers (BLOs) would visit households and distribute pre-filled enumeration forms. A draft roll would then be published, followed by a month-long claims and objections period. These would be disposed of in the next 25 days, with final rolls published early Jan next year. “This is not possible when local polls are set to take place and BLOs are already doing other work,” added officials.ECI officials said that the purpose of SIR is to “purify” rolls by removing names of deceased, permanently shifted, duplicate voters or non-citizens, while ensuring that all eligible citizens are duly included.
