Haryana SIR sees 44.91 lakh notices, over 4 lakh hearings still pending

More than 44.91 lakh notices have been issued to electors in Haryana for providing incorrect information during the mapping process under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with hearings completed in over 40.56 lakh cases and another 4.35 lakh still pending, officials said on Thursday.

The highest pendency has been reported in Faridabad, Karnal and Hisar districts. The state's Additional Chief Electoral Officer has directed all Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to complete the remaining hearings within the stipulated period while strictly complying with Election Commission guidelines before passing orders.

Voters told not to panic

Election officials have asked voters not to panic if they receive notices over discrepancies detected during the SIR exercise. Those served notices have been advised to approach the concerned ERO and submit their responses along with the correct supporting documents so that discrepancies can be rectified.

A video conference was also held on Thursday with all District Election Officers (DEOs) under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Electoral Officer, following directions from the Election Commission.

Officials were instructed to re-examine cases in which voters were found ineligible during hearings as well as instances where Form 6 applications seeking inclusion in the electoral roll had been rejected.

The state election authorities said no voter's name would be deleted without due reason. The direction assumes significance given the scale of the exercise and the large number of electors who received notices during the mapping process.

3.78 lakh seek registration

Nearly 3.78 lakh Form 6 applications have been received for registration of new voters during the SIR exercise in Haryana. The deadline for filing claims and objections against the draft electoral roll ended on September 30.

The claims and objections are scheduled to be disposed of by October 28, while the final electoral roll is to be published on November 6.

Gurugram recorded the highest number of Form 6 applications at 39,985, followed by Faridabad with 33,463 and Hisar with 22,001.

At the other end, Charkhi Dadri recorded the lowest number of applications at 7,095. Panchkula received 8,786 applications and Nuh 9,087.

The numbers indicate that the revision process is simultaneously dealing with discrepancies in existing voter records and applications from people seeking fresh inclusion.

Congress seeks transparency

Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh, meanwhile, called for transparency in the SIR process and said protecting the rights of eligible voters must remain central to the revision exercise.

Singh sought a constituency-wise review of changes made to electoral rolls, claims and objections received and notices issued during the exercise. He said such scrutiny was necessary to ensure that no eligible citizen was left out of the rolls.

The Congress is scheduled to hold a meeting of its state-level action and monitoring committee on October 7. Haryana Congress in-charge Sanjay Dutt and former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda are expected to attend.

The party's SIR in-charges have been asked to hold meetings in their respective districts and prepare detailed constituency-wise reports.

These reports will cover names already deleted or facing possible deletion, the status of claims and objections, notices pending at the DEO and ERO levels, and registration of eligible citizens and young voters.

Party to review booth mechanism

The October 7 meeting will also examine the functioning of the Congress's booth-level agents. BLA-1 refers to a political party's representative at the Assembly constituency level, while BLA-2 functions at the polling-booth level.

The party said it would review their role in ensuring registration of eligible citizens and young voters during the updating period following publication of the final rolls. It also plans to discuss changes it says were made by the Election Commission in Form 6 during the SIR process.

Dutt said electoral-roll revision must be transparent and argued that no eligible voter's name should be removed in haste. He said voters whose cases remained pending should receive adequate time and an opportunity to present their documents before a decision was taken.

The Congress's comments represent the party's position on the ongoing revision exercise. Election officials, for their part, have directed EROs to follow the Commission's guidelines and have specifically ordered a re-examination of voters found ineligible and rejected Form 6 applications.

October 28 deadline

With more than 40.56 lakh hearings already completed, election authorities now face the task of disposing of the remaining 4.35 lakh cases while simultaneously examining nearly 3.78 lakh applications for new registrations.

The immediate administrative deadline is October 28, when the claims and objections process is scheduled to conclude. The final electoral roll is then expected to be published on November 6.

The directions to re-examine rejected cases and avoid deletion without due reason are intended to provide an additional layer of scrutiny before the rolls are finalised, even as political parties step up their own monitoring of the SIR exercise.