Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Election Commission on Thursday announced Phase-3 of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, to be conducted across 16 states and three Union territories (UTs), including NCT of Delhi, between May and Dec. SIR-3, which will verify eligibility of a total 36.7 crore electors, will be carried out in a phased manner across Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland and Tripura. It will also include the UTs of Delhi, Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (DNH & DD). The schedule for SIR Phase-3 has been drawn up by EC keeping in mind the Census 2027 schedule and the common field machinery involved in SIR and the ongoing houselisting phase of Census, commission said on Thursday. EC sources told TOI that there shall be no change in methodology for SIR Phase-3; rules and instructions remain the same as those followed in SIR Phase-2 that had covered 12 states and UTs. SIR Phase-2 had seen net deletions of 10.2% electors across the 12 states/UTs, bringing down their combined electorate to 45.8 crore from nearly 51 crore at start of SIR.Andaman and Nicobar saw highest percentage of net purification of electors at 16.6%, followed by UP (13.2%), Gujarat (13.1%), Chhattisgarh (11.3%), West Bengal (10.9%), Tamil Nadu (10.6%).During SIR Phase-3, over 3.9 lakh BLOs will reach out to 36.7 crore electors through house-to-house visits. BLOs will be assisted by 3.4 lakh BLAs appointed by political parties during the enumeration phase. The qualifying date for SIR in Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, DNH & DD, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh will be July 1. Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Delhi, Nagaland and Tripura will have Oct 1 as the qualifying date.Enumeration period will be different for different sets of states/UTs and will extend from May 30 to Oct 14. The final rolls for Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur are due to be published on Sept 6, that for DNH & DD on Sept 11, and for Uttarakhand on Sept 15. The due date for final publication of rolls is Sept 22 in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh; Oct 1 in Telangana and Punjab; Oct 7 in Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi; Nov 22 in Nagaland; and Dec 23 in Tripura.
