New Delhi [India], June 24 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued instructions for holding a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, in accordance with the schedule and guidelines prescribed by the Commission.

In an official statement, the poll body said that the objective of an intensified revision is to ensure that the names of all eligible citizens are included in the Electoral Roll (ER) to enable them to exercise their franchise, no ineligible voter is included in the electoral rolls and also to introduce complete transparency in the process of addition or deletion of electors in the electoral rolls. The last intensive revision for Bihar was conducted by the Commission in 2003.

Various reasons, such as rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths and inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants, have necessitated the conduct of an intensive revision so as to ensure integrity and preparation of error-free electoral rolls. The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) shall be conducting a house-to-house survey for verification during the process of this intensive revision, the statement said.

While conducting the special revision, the ECI shall be scrupulously adhering to the Constitutional and legal provisions regarding eligibility to be registered as a voter and disqualifications for registration in an electoral roll which are clearly laid down in Article 326 of the Constitution of India and Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 respectively, it added.

'In accordance with Section 23 of the Representation of People Act 1950, the eligibility conditions to enrol as an elector were already being verified by the ERO to his satisfaction. Now, to ensure complete transparency, it would be necessary that the documents on the basis of which such satisfaction of ERO is arrived at, are also uploaded in ECINET as the current level of technology enables so. However, these documents shall be accessible to authorised election officials, keeping in view the privacy issues. In case of any claims and objections raised by any political party or an elector, the AERO would inquire into the same before EROs satisfaction is arrived at. Under Section 24 of the Act, an appeal against the order of ERO can also be made to the District Magistrate and the Chief Electoral Officer,' the statement added.

The statement added that CEOs/DEOs/EROs/BLOs have been directed to ensure that genuine electors, particularly old, sick, Persons with Disabilities (PwD), poor, and other vulnerable groups, are not harassed and are facilitated to the extent possible, including through the deployment of volunteers.

'While all efforts shall be made by the Election Commission of India that the revision process is carried out in a smooth manner, causing minimum inconvenience to the electors, ECI shall be seeking active involvement of all political parties in the process by appointing their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) in all polling booths. The active participation of BLAs would ensure that discrepancies, if any, are resolved at the preparation stage itself, thereby reducing the instances of filing claims, objections and appeals. It may be underscored that both the electors and the political parties, are the most important stakeholders in any electoral process and it is only with their full participation that an exercise of such magnitude can be conducted smoothly and successfully,' it added. (ANI)