BHUBANESWAR: Chief electoral officer (CEO) RS Gopalan on Tuesday announced that all intensive revision forms for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise would be made available in Odia for easy understandability by people residing in rural areas. The SIR exercise in the state will commence from May 30.
At a state-level virtual preparatory meeting held with all district-level officials, Gopalan directed them to intensify efforts towards new voter registration, correction of errors and simplification of voter transfer procedures, while ensuring that no eligible voter is left out of the electoral roll.
Special emphasis was laid on making door-to-door survey by booth-level officers (BLOs) transparent, simple and free from any error and rumours. District administrations were instructed to prepare dedicated strategies to tackle misinformation and misleading narratives related to the SIR exercise, especially on social media platforms.
Officials were asked to promptly respond to any misleading content with verified information and clarifications. “To make the revision process more accessible, all enumeration forms meant for electoral roll preparation will be made available in Odia so that people, particularly in rural areas, can easily understand and fill them correctly,” the CEO said.
Sources said the printed forms will be available in Odia, while forms to be provided online from May 30 onwards will be available in both Odia and English. Nearly seven crore forms have been printed for the exercise in the state, including a duplicate copy to be retained by the voters.
Gopalan said citizens will also be sensitised about the upcoming house-to-house enumeration drive and encouraged to provide accurate information during the survey process.
The toll-free helpline number 1950 will be widely publicised to assist citizens with electoral roll-related queries. Voters will also be able to use the helpline to book a call with their respective BLOs for assistance and clarification. The DIPROs have been tasked with conducting large-scale awareness campaigns through local media and social media platforms to educate the public about the revision process.
Deputy CEO Lakshmi Prasad Sahu advised district media and social media cells to strengthen dissemination of authentic information and ensure wider public outreach regarding the SIR exercise.