Kerala SIR carried out with strict deadlines, says state election officer

THe Special Intensive revisal (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala proceeded below strict deadlines due to the southern tell’s alignment with the 2026 assemblage elections in due west Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, state chief electoral officer Rathan U Kelkar has said.“We were told to do what we can within the timeline,” Kelkar said in an interview to HT.The Election Commission of India (ECI) has granted multiple extensions for the SIR of electoral rolls across states and Union territories. A one-week pan-India extension was first given to 12 states/UTs—including Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal—shifting the form-submission deadline to December 11, 2025. Subsequently, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands received state-specific revised schedules for enumeration. Goa, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Puducherry and West Bengal later got a further extension for claims and objections till January 19, 2026. Kerala received only a one, 7-day form submission deadline extension, that expired on December 18, 2025. Its request for a longer enumeration extension was denied, though claims and objections were later allowed till January 30, 2026.The absence of extensions initially affected the involvement of Booth Level Agents (BLAs), appointed by political parties to assist with linking voters to legacy electoral rolls. With BLAs largely unavailable, BLOs and anganwadi workers carried out most fieldwork. Anganwadi staff faced challenges with digital uploads, prompting the department to organise support camps with student volunteers and increase field-level supervision.Kelkar, however, said that the suicide of a BLO on November 17 was a “turning point” that shifted how field staff perceived their roles. “The first BLO death in Kerala was a turning point. That caused shock within the system and changed how field staff viewed their responsibilities,” he said.Maintaining that the schedule was manageable, the Kerala CEO noted that while the window was 30 days, “full-intensity work” only occurred over approximately 10 days, with many officers finishing early. “Out of 30 days, they had hardly 10 full days of work,” he said. The exercise drew attention when Kelkar, too, received a notice when the system flagged his name as missing from the 2002 rolls. “The system flagged that discrepancy, and I received a notice like any other citizen. It is not about suspicion; it is about verification based on rules,” he said.He further emphasised the importance of the exercise: “If you are eligible, you will be on the electoral roll. The SIR reflects the need for rolls to keep pace with migration and mobility while adhering to verification rules.”Migration, both internal and overseas, influenced verification, with personal hearings often waived if local records sufficed and authorised representatives permitted for overseas voters.Preventing foreign nationals from being enrolled was another objective. “During the notice and hearing phase, a small number of Nepali citizens were identified. No cases involving Bangladeshi nationals have surfaced so far. If such cases existed, they would have emerged during the objection period,” Kelkar said.Despite over 94% of voters being correctly mapped, nearly 2 million notices were issued, mainly for incomplete forms or missing linkage to the 2002 rolls. Urban and semi-urban areas accounted for a higher share due to population mobility and lower local familiarity, while rural areas benefited from stable populations and more local knowledge. Notices are generated digitally for discrepancies in age, gender, parental details, or roll linkage, with hearings serving as verification rather than punitive proceedings.