Roll clean-up; Assam set for Special Intensive Revision after 2005

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: After 2005, Assam is heading for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Photo Electoral Rolls. Following a direction from the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Election Department, Assam, has started preparations for the SIR.

According to sources in the department, the stage is almost set for the SIR in the state in 2025. The Election Department had a video conference with its district-level officials regarding the SIR.

According to sources in the state Election Department, Assam had an intensive revision of the electoral roll in 2005 when the state had over 1.73 crore electors. The electoral roll of 2005 is expected to have a role in this year’s SIR. Taking that into effect, the state Election Department has made the 2005 Electoral Roll of the state public on its website (ceoassam.nic.in). This has allowed the public to have access to the electoral roll of 2005.

Before 2005, the state had an intensive revision of the electoral roll in 1997 when the ECI, for the first time, tagged some voters in the state as ‘doubtful’ or ‘D voters’, a concept that is nowhere found in the rest of India other than Assam.

As preliminary preparations for the SIR, the state Election Department had ten BLOs (booth level officers) from each of the 126 Legislative Assembly Constituencies (LACs) of the state trained in New Delhi. The BLOs will play a major role in the SIR.

According to sources in the department, the SIR is expected to provide the state a clean electoral roll devoid of the names of dead people and double entry of names in two different polling stations.

The Chief Electoral Officer of Assam had on August 4 written a letter to all district election officers (DEOs) of the state to get ready for the SIR.

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