Covering over 47 lakh voters across the districts of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has become a headache for most residents.
Whether they are the migrants or the residents living in high-rise society, senior citizens or first-time voters—all are reporting problems in completing the verification process. Their grievances point to a combination of technical difficulties, insufficient documentation, limited availability of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and a constrained time window. Questions about the practical difficulties and intent behind the ongoing exercise at this juncture arise when the Assembly elections are not scheduled in the near future are being raised.
The tedious task
In GB Nagar, 1,868 BLOs have been tasked with distributing enumeration forms to around 18.6 lakh registered voters. In Ghaziabad, 3,224 BLOs are expected to reach around 29.6 lakh voters. Every BLO will visit over 900 voters in their areas. The Election Commission has extended the Special Intensive Revision across 12 states by a week, shifting key deadlines. Enumeration and polling station rationalisation will now close on December 11, the draft roll on December 16, with claims, objections and final publication pushed to February 14, 2026.
Although the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are still slated for 2027, several categories of voters feel that they may be left out due to procedural rigidity and the absence of proper guidance. Community representatives, political leaders, social workers, and even some government personnel have echoed concerns, suggesting that the SIR operation, which is meant to strengthen the voter database, has instead created an uncertainty across the two key districts of western UP.
Criticism has mounted over what many describe as a narrow time frame to complete verification in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populated state. Residents argue that the volume of paperwork needed, combined with logistical challenges, makes it nearly impossible for BLOs to guide each household effectively, especially in dense urban clusters.
Mounting grievances
BLOs acknowledge the strain. A BLO in Noida, working continuously since November 4, said she is responsible for 1,229 voters and was unable to take a single day off because of the workload. “I am distributing forms, collecting them, and trying to counsel residents whenever possible. But the schedule is extremely demanding, and there are limits to how much personal guidance we can provide,” she said, requesting anonymity.
Her counterpart in Ghaziabad echoed a similar experience, saying that even with daily distribution and collection rounds, there is inadequate time to attend to people who lack essential documents such as birth certificates, voter IDs, or verifiable address proofs.
She added that people in rural pockets are not willing to adhere to the guidelines. They were taking forms unwillingly, delaying submission and arguing on several points. The BLOs in rural areas have been facing a crisis for basic facilities. “In urban societies there are adequate drinking water, washrooms and other facilities for public convenience, but in rural areas basic facilities like public washrooms are missing. We are struggling with lot of problems during the 8-hour-long shift in rural belts,” said a BLO requesting anonymity.
A serious complaint across Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad is the absence of functional help desks. Many residents argue that if dedicated centres were set up at the ward or sector level, people could obtain clarification and assistance, easing the pressure on BLOs who often have to manage hundreds of households alone. For female BLOs, the absence of public toilets during long field hours adds to the challenge.
Furthermore, reports suggest a coordination gap between Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of political parties. While BLAs are expected to support the process and assist residents, several locals claim that this cooperation is inconsistent or completely missing in some pockets.
This gap, residents believe, is worsening confusion, particularly for first-time voters or people unfamiliar with digital documentation systems.
In semi-urban and rural parts of both districts, non-tech-savvy residents are finding the process overwhelming. Without digital literacy, many do not know how to download forms, upload documents, or verify their status online.
People with minimal schooling say they lack any support system. “Everything is online, but we cannot do it. BLOs are too busy to assist everyone. No help desks exist. How do we complete the process?” A resident from Dadri complained.
No birth certificates, missing property papers, and the absence of proof of residence—particularly among long-term tenants—are compounding the struggle for thousands.
Women bear the brunt
A married women, including the ones who have relocated for multiple reasons, are among the most vulnerable groups, as the pre-marriage documents are either lost, incomplete, or inaccessible due to distance and family circumstances.
Many young women born after 2003—who should ideally be entering the voter list as first-time voters—say that they lack birth certificates or previous records, making enrolment difficult.
Rakhi Sharma, a resident of Greater Noida West, previously lived in Punjab but never obtained a voter ID, but the BLO is demanding all foundational documents before processing her application. “I hardly have anything from the time I lived in Punjab. I’m stuck,” she said.
For women who were married under schemes such as Samuhik Vivah, the challenges deepen. Many never had documents prepared, making compliance with the current requirements nearly impossible without institutional support—something that residents say is missing.
Arun Bhati, a resident of Salarpur in Noida, described how his SIR verification went smoothly, but his wife’s case has become a challenge. Married in 2019, she lacks multiple documents required for verification. “I now have to start from scratch to arrange all her papers. Many families won’t be able to afford the time and effort it takes,” he said.
Retired Air Force officer Maharaj Singh Nagar, a resident of Noida, is struggling to help enrol his daughter-in-law, who hails from Haryana but lives in Lucknow. “She has no earlier voter ID or eligible documents. My son works in the aviation sector and cannot travel frequently to Haryana to retrieve papers. We need more time; after all, the next elections are two years away,” he said.
The migrant crisis
Migrants, especially those who shifted cities decades ago, form a large section of the affected population. Many of them never retained earlier voter IDs or documents from their native states and are now unable to meet the requirements set under the scrutiny protocol.
Gautam Budh Nagar district president of Congress Deepak Bhati mentions that one of the affected individuals is Tanveer, a resident of Sector 19, Noida. His experience highlights the predicament of families with long histories of mobility. His late father, a central government employee, was frequently transferred across India; as a result, Tanveer has no old documentation linking the family to their previous addresses. Despite living in Noida for 25 years, he is apprehensive that their inability to furnish old papers could result in complications.
Similarly, Murari Sharan Singh, a 65-year-old resident of Greater Noida West, shared that he never possessed a voter ID from his native village in East Champaran, Bihar. “I don’t know what questions will arise during scrutiny,” he said, noting that several of his neighbours in the high-rise have expressed comparable worries.
Greater Noida West, Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, and multiple parts of Noida host huge populations of young professionals and service sector workers who moved from different states. Many of them did not transfer their voter registrations after relocating and now cannot trace their old voter numbers or identity proofs. Social activist Rohan Gupta, who runs the NGO Nirantar Prayas, said that he has been coordinating with a few BLOs in the Greater Noida West area to help streamline the process for high-rise societies. “Most residents here are migrants. They are educated but extremely busy, and many don’t have legacy documents. We are trying to assist them so that genuine voters do not get excluded,” Gupta said.
High-rise residents admit that while BLOs are making sincere efforts, the scale of documentation required is not practical for a floating population.
Political repercussions
Deepak Bhati, Gautam Buddh Nagar district Congress president, sharply criticised the timing and pace of the revision. He alleged that the authorities might be attempting to “eliminate as many names as possible” from the voter list. According to him, the absence of adequate help desks further adds to the suspicion.
“Once the draft electoral roll is released, we will examine it thoroughly and decide what actions are necessary to safeguard the rights of genuine voters,” Bhati said.
Political analyst Dushyant Nagar described the SIR as politically motivated, claiming that the government wishes to influence the voter landscape ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. “People are facing both documentation and technical challenges. This should have been a citizen-friendly exercise, not a burdensome one. I strongly believe that this is not being done in a good spirit,”he remarked.
Hurdles on the way
The role of BLOs has come under scrutiny—not for their intent, but for the immense pressure they are shouldering. Both the Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad district administrations have registered cases against several BLOs, a move that field staff describe as unjust.
A schoolteacher claimed she was so overburdened by SIR duties that she offered to resign, even though she is only a few years away from retirement. She alleged that the workload has reached “inhumane levels”, and instead of support, many BLOs are being penalised.
Staff from local authorities—including Binod Balyan and Akash Chaudhary of the Noida Authority, along with Jitender Kumar from the Dadri Tehsil office—say they are trying to assist BLOs, but the sheer magnitude of the operation makes daily work extremely demanding.
Persisting chaos
Many citizens argue that since the next Assembly elections are still two years away, the Election Commission should consider relaxing deadlines, simplifying documentation norms, or extending verification timelines.
Administrative officers, on their part, maintain that the revision is a routine exercise undertaken nationwide. However, the intersection of massive migrant populations, inadequate help infrastructure, and strict paperwork requirements have made the situation unusually challenging in these two districts.
Residents and political observers worry that without timely intervention, a significant number of genuine voters might find themselves excluded, potentially affecting the democratic participation of entire communities.
As the SIR continues, the chaos grows asking if this exercise will strengthen electoral accuracy, or will it inadvertently disenfranchise thousands who lack the documents.