The collection of enumeration forms from electors in urban areas has been “much less” than in rural regions during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across nine states and three Union territories, Election Commission officials said on Friday.
Citing available trends, officials said the most likely reason for lower form returns in cities was the unavailability of electors at home due to work or professional commitments, while constant migration was identified as another contributing factor.
In contrast, enumeration form collection by booth-level officials in rural areas has been significantly higher, reflecting greater voter availability and residential stability, officials said.
Urban centres such as Lucknow, Kanpur and Noida recorded “much less” form collection, according to trends from states where the SIR exercise is underway. A similar pattern was observed in cities, including Patna, during the voter list clean-up exercise conducted in Bihar last year, officials noted.
Also read: Bengal SIR: Monk lists Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi as parents
Phase II of the SIR began on November 4 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Except for Uttar Pradesh, draft electoral rolls have been published in all the other states and Union territories, officials said.
In Assam, a separate “special revision” of electoral rolls is currently in progress.
Officials said the most recent SIR in each state would serve as the cut-off reference, similar to the use of the 2003 voter list during the intensive revision exercise in Bihar. Most states last conducted an SIR between 2002 and 2004 and have since nearly completed the mapping of current electors based on those revisions.
The primary objective of the SIR is to identify and remove foreign illegal migrants by verifying place of birth, a process that has gained significance amid ongoing crackdowns on illegal migrants in several states, including those from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Follow us
