Bhubaneswar: Ahead of launching the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Odisha April 1, the Election Commission of India Tuesday organised a four-day state-level training programme for election officials.
The SIR is a comprehensive voter list revision designed to update and purify electoral rolls by verifying voter details, removing duplicates or ineligible entries, and ensuring accuracy ahead of future elections.
Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) RS Gopalan inaugurated the programme at the Revenue Officers Training Institute in Gothapatna, Bhubaneswar.
The training, scheduled from March 10 to 13, is being held in two sessions every day and imparts knowledge and skill to officers on how to implement the SIR exercise efficiently and transparently. The last special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the state was conducted two decades ago.
According to an official statement, participants of the first day of training included Election Registration Officers (EROs), Additional EROs, and Deputy Collectors (Election) from districts such as Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sundergarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Balasore.
The participants are elaborately informed on the key aspects of the SIR process, including voter list revision procedures, mapping of electors with the old (2002) voter list, data collection, field-level implementation, and institutional preparedness.
The senior officials were also told about the procedure on the appointment of Booth Level Agents (BLAs) by political parties, training for BLAs on voter verification and form handling, identification of 20 key persons per polling booth, and completion of mapping with the 2002 voter list.
This apart, during the training, the officials will be made aware of the digitisation of enumeration forms, identification of suitable locations with required facilities for scanning, data entry, and verification.
The trained personnel will conduct hearing camps for claims and objections at various locations to facilitate easy access and timely resolution of grievances, with prior intimation to voters and stakeholders on dates, times, and venues.
It was also informed to the officials that IT cells will be established at Electoral Registration Officer (ERO/AERO) levels, and help desks will be set up at District Election Officer (DEO/AERO) offices for assistance to voters, BLOs, and field staff during the revision period.
The mapping process, however, has already begun in the state.
In the statement, the CEO said that around 90 per cent of the voters in the state have been mapped with the 2002 electoral roll. This mapping process is expected to be completed within the next 10 days, and the target is to achieve at least 95 per cent mapping.
Asked about the 90 per cent mapping of votes in the state, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sushanta Kumar Mishra told PTI: “The mapping is a preparatory exercise and the actual electoral roll will be prepared under SIR from April 1”.
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