BENGALURU: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday announced that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state will be extended by 10 days.
Accordingly, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit houses to distribute, collect and digitise enumeration forms till August 8. Earlier, the exercise was supposed to end on July 29.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka V Anbukkumar said this has been done to help electors and BLOs complete the SIR exercise successfully. The CEO’s office had requested the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) more time to complete the exercise in the city.
As per data, there are 1,03,88,363 electors and 81,30,826 forms have been distributed. Per day coverage is 4.89%, where 5,08,177 forms are being distributed, and 7,10,963 (6.84%) forms have been digitised.
BJP and Congress had sought extension of time for completion of the SIR exercise. Many citizens and associations had also sought extension of time, citing lack of clarity in the exercise. Many BLOs had complained of paucity of time to distribute, collect and digitise forms.
According to an order issued by ECI, rationalisation/re-arrangement of polling stations will be done on August 8 instead of July 29.
The draft electoral roll will now be published on August 17 instead of August 5. Claims and objections can be filed from August 17 to September 16 instead of August 5 to September 4.
As per the new schedule, the notice phase for disposal of claims and objections is from August 17 to October 15. The final electoral roll will be published on October 19.
SIR: NO CLARITY ON ACCEPTANCE OF PRC, CEO REFUSES COMMENT
Bengaluru: The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, on Wednesday gave no clear answer or clarity on the status and acceptance of the Permanent Residence Card (PRC).
CEO of Karnataka V Anbukkumar refused to comment on the matter. He said as of now, no documents are being collected and a decision will be taken when the matter comes up. He did not clarify whether the PRCs submitted by citizens will be accepted or not. He also refused to comment on a meeting held with representatives of various political parties on the matter.
BJP had raised objections to the decision of the state government that tahsildars will issue PRCs. The BJP stated that this is under the purview of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and it is not a state subject. He further said, “We are not doing corrections or changes at the moment. We will do them after the draft rolls are published.
While filing claims and objections, citizens can submit Form 8 for corrections. If corrections are required, citizens can submit Form 8 after the draft rolls are published. Citizens are requested not to withhold their forms if 2002 data or progeny is not found.”