PUNE: Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday extended the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra by 10 days, pushing the deadline for submission of enumeration forms and the door-to-door verification exercise by booth-level officers from Aug 8 to Aug 17.This is the second revision, as the earlier date of July 29 was revised to Aug 8.
New deadlines
ECI accepted a request from the state election office which sought additional time as the state is grappling with the slow pace of digitisation of enumeration forms.With several districts yet to complete uploading of forms, election officials had indicated that digitisation was the biggest challenge in the exercise.
Congress demands extension of 2 months from CEO
According to the notification issued, both Delhi and Maharashtra have been granted the 10-day extension. “As per the request of revision on Tuesday (Aug 4), we have decided to revise the schedule,’’ the office of the ECI stated.ECI directed the Maharashtra CEO to inform all election officials and recognised political parties about the revised schedule and ensure wide publicity.The extension is crucial breathing space for the poll machinery to complete field verification and digitisation.MPCC on Tuesday wrote to chief electoral officer S Chockalingam seeking a much longer extension.Its president Harshvardhan Sapkal said the progress of the SIR exercise (digitisation) remained around 70% with some districts recording less than 50% completion because of heavy rain and logistical constraints.Sapkal, citing Ganeshotsav in Sept, urged ECI to extend the deadline for submission of forms by at least two months. He said additional time was necessary to ensure that no eligible voter was left out.The extension was essential to safeguard voting rights and allow wider participation in the revision exercise, he added.Earlier, representatives of civil rights’ groups from 20 organisations had sought a two-month extension. “There should be a detailed check and every voter should be reached in the drive,’’ Ulka Mahajan, a civil rights activist, said.
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