Hyderabad, Oct 13 (PTI) Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharsan Reddy on Tuesday directed district election officials to organise special camps on October 15 and 16 at every polling station for enrolment of left-out and first-time voters, and to conduct a special drive for verification of entries deleted during SIR.
In a communication to District Election Officers (DEOs), Sudharsan Reddy said the Election Commission of India is committed to ensuring that “every eligible elector is added and no ineligible entries remain in the electoral roll”.
The DEOs, therefore, are directed to issue necessary instructions to all the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to organize Special Camps on October 15 and 16 at every polling Station, where left-out and first-time or young electors can visit and file applications in Form-6, for enrolling themselves as electors in the Electoral Roll, he said.
The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) shall remain present and the Booth Level Agents (BLAs) will also be required to be present at the designated locations on the two days, he said.
The CEO directed the DEOs to give wide publicity on organising special camps.
In a separate communication to the DEOs and EROs, the CEO told them that the EC has given direction to hold a special drive for verification of entries deleted during SIR and enrolment of left-out, new, young and first-time electors.
In a series of instructions, the CEO said the BLOs shall compare the current electoral roll with the pre-SIR electoral roll and identify such electors whose names were in the pre-SIR roll but not included in the current electoral roll and prepare a list of such electors.
The BLOs shall undertake House-to-House (H2H) visits regarding such identified electors to ascertain their present status and facilitate enrolment through Form 6, wherever the person is found to be eligible, he said.
The BLOs will also ensure filling up Form 6 for enrolment of any left-out/first-time/young electors during their house-to-house visits. The BLOs will share this list with the BLAs of the recognised political parties.
The BLOs will share the list with the ERO along with the filled-in application forms in Form 6 and their field verification report.
ERO is the competent authority to act as deemed fit on these cases as per the provisions under The Representation of The People Act, 1950 and Registration of Electors Rules 1960, he said.
At the end of this exercise, the booth-wise lists prepared will also be shared by the EROs with the representatives of the political parties giving them a further opportunity to enable enrolment of any left-out electors.
In addition, Booth Level Camps should be organised to facilitate submission of applications for enrolment. Special camps may also be organised for enrolment of people living in night shelters, labour colonies as well as for homeless and marginalised persons, the CEO said.
The DEOs and EROs should undertake appropriate awareness and mobilisation activities through educational institutions and others to ensure that every eligible citizen is made aware of the opportunity to get enrolled, he said.
The DEOs should also implement the EC’s Communication Plan by ensuring daily coverage of the special drive through photographs, video clips, bytes and testimonials of BLOs, young voters and other eligible electors, and by posting the same on the social media handles of the DEOs and ERO, he said.
The DEOs and EROs should ensure wide publicity of the special drive through all possible modes of communication and also make sure the above instructions are strictly complied with and necessary action is taken accordingly, to facilitate enrolment of all eligible electors, the CEO added.
The applications received in Form 6 at special camps on October 15 and 16 would be included, after following due procedure, in the final electoral roll to be published on November 9 as part of ongoing SIR in the state. PTI SJR SJR ROH
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