KOCHI: The Kerala government is intervening strongly to ensure that no citizen loses their right to vote due to technical issues arising from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and “no mapping” in the electoral roll, Industries Minister P Rajeeve said on Monday.
Rajeeve, who is in charge of Ernakulam district, made the statement addressing a press conference in Kochi.
The minister further said that the government has approached the Supreme Court in view of widespread concerns regarding SIR procedures, including 'no mapping' of voter data.
Kerala is the only state to have moved the apex court on this matter, he added, and two weeks’ time has been granted following the petition.
Rajeeve explained that around 19.32 lakh voters across the state figure in the draft electoral roll but remain in the 'no mapping' category due to technical mismatches, such as the inability to link present voter details with the 2002 electoral roll or parental records.
“Names are there in the list, but the system is unable to match some legacy data. The government’s stand is clear — nobody should lose their voting right due to technical errors,” he said.
Only those who submit the required documents and appear for the hearing will continue in the final voters’ list. The hearings will be held from January 6 to 28.
In Ernakulam district alone, 2,06,061 voters are currently listed under the “no mapping” category. Based on constituency-wise figures, the highest numbers are in Tripunithura (33,264), Ernakulam (26,544), Udayamperoor (24,650), Kochi (14,778), Aluva (13,959), Kalamassery (13,027), Angamaly (12,710), Paravur (12,993), Piravom (11,821), Muvattupuzha (10,810), Vypeen (9,482), Kunnathunad (8,499) and Perumbavoor (8,642).
Though BLOs have already verified documents of 52,216 people, the Election Commission has directed that they too must attend the hearings, the minister said.
To assist the public, the government has ordered the formation of help desks in all village offices, with at least two staff members deployed at each centre and additional personnel assigned where needed. Kudumbashree workers, ASHA workers and anganwadi staff will also support outreach among SC/ST communities, migrant workers and other vulnerable groups.
Rajeeve stressed that “no mapping” is not targeted at any particular section or community.
“This is purely a technical issue. The collective responsibility of society and political parties is to safeguard every citizen’s voting right,” he said, adding that parties across the spectrum have jointly taken up the matter with the Election Commission of India.