Nationwide SIR Rollout from April; State CEOs Directed to Complete Preparations

New Delhi, Feb 23: The process of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls will begin across the country from this April. This information was provided today by the Election Commission of India.

The Commission’s Secretary, Pawan Diwan, has written to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of 22 states and Union Territories, directing them to immediately complete all preparations related to the SIR. The letter states that the revision process is likely to commence in the remaining 22 states and Union Territories from April.

These states and Union Territories include Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana and Uttarakhand.

On June 24 last year, the Election Commission had announced that SIR would be conducted across the country in a phased manner. According to information received, in the first phase, the SIR process in these states will be carried out alongside the 2027 Census. During the first phase of the Census, house listing and house enumeration work will be conducted between April and September. The Commission has expressed confidence that even if both processes run simultaneously, no major problems will arise.

In the first phase, the Election Commission conducted SIR in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections. In the second phase, the SIR process has been underway since October 28 last year in 12 states and Union Territories. These include Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

However, in Assam, due to issues related to the NRC (National Register of Citizens), a special revision is being carried out instead of SIR. Under this process, the electoral rolls are being updated — names of deceased voters are being removed, new voters are being added, names of relocated voters are being deleted, and any errors are being corrected.