HYDERABAD: A day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) clarified that Family Register Certificates (FRCs) issued by the Telangana government cannot be accepted as designated documents for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) verification, State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharshan Reddy on Thursday directed all DEOs and EROs to enforce the order. However, Family Member Certificates issued before July 25 under the earlier system will be accepted.
In a memo issued on Thursday, Sudharshan Reddy directed all district collectors and DEOs to instruct EROs and assistant EROs to comply with the ECI’s clarification during the notice and verification period of the SIR.
The directions followed the ECI’s clarification that FRCs issued under the new system can only be treated as equivalent to ration cards and cannot be accepted as designated documents for SIR verification. Family Member Certificates issued before July 25 under the earlier system introduced in June 2013, however, will be accepted.
The clarification came after the state government introduced a statewide electronic Telangana Family Register in July and enabled citizens to obtain FRCs through the MeeSeva platform. Following GO No. 172 issued by the Revenue department on July 25, the CEO had sought the ECI’s guidance on whether the newly issued FRC could be considered the 10th document in the indicative list of 12 documents prescribed for SIR verification.
In its response, the ECI referred to the circumstances surrounding the introduction of the new FRC system and cited the Supreme Court’s judgment in Association for Democratic Reforms vs Election Commission of India, W.P. (C) No. 649 of 2025. The Commission concluded that FRCs issued under GO No. 172 could only be treated as equivalent to ration cards and therefore could not be accepted as designated documents for SIR verification. The ECI also pointed out that the new FRC mechanism was introduced while the SIR exercise was already under way.
The Commission observed that ration cards themselves are not among the designated documents prescribed for screening eligibility under the SIR. Therefore, an FRC issued solely on the basis of ration card data cannot acquire the status of a designated document for the electoral roll revision exercise.
The state government, in a letter dated July 31, had clarified that GO No. 172 “has no bearing on, and is completely delinked from, the SIR of electoral rolls currently under process in the state”.