Haryana CEO launches three-day drive to clear pending SIR notices

According to the CEO’s office, 44,91,923 notices were generated across Haryana for unmapped cases and other various discrepancies. Photo: Special Arrangement

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Haryana, has launched a special three-day drive to dispose of pending notices issued to voters under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with special camps and house-to-house collection of documents being undertaken from October 7 to 9 at polling stations where documents are still awaited.

As part of the drive, 57,339 pending hearing cases were disposed on October 7 and 8, reducing the number of cases awaiting hearings to 2,85,834 of the total notices generated in the State. The disposal of all pending hearings has been targeted by October 28, ahead of publication of the final electoral roll on November 6.

According to the CEO’s office, 44,91,923 notices were generated across Haryana for unmapped cases and other various discrepancies.

BLOs overworked

A Booth-Level Officer (BLO), who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the notices served on the voters were not received by all BLOs at the same time. “I received 250 notices on August 7, while others got theirs two or three days later. Some had 600, 700, 800 or even 900 notices,” the BLO said. He said that it took him nearly two months to complete the 250 notices, from August 7 to September 30. “If it took me so long to complete 250, those with 800-900 notices will naturally take much longer,” the BLO said, adding that some cases also remained pending as people were reluctant to submit documents during the hearing process. The BLO also flagged difficulties arising from the teachers returning for school and examination duties from October 1.