Pune: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra by 10 days, pushing the deadline for house-to-house verification by booth-level officers (BLOs) from July 29 to August 8.In a communication on July 15 to the Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra, the commission approved a revised schedule after the state election machinery sought additional time to complete the exercise.Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam told TOI that ECI has approved Maharashtra’s request to extend the SIR exercise by 10 days in view of the heavy rainfall in parts of the state and the ongoing Ashadhi wari. “However, booth-level officers have been directed to maintain the momentum of the exercise and ensure that the work is completed within the extended timeline,” he added.Under the revised timeline, the draft electoral rolls will now be published on Aug 17, while the period for filing claims and objections will run from Aug 17 to Sept 16. The disposal of claims and objections will continue till Oct 15, with the final electoral rolls to be published on Oct 19.The extension comes amid concerns over the pace of the SIR exercise in Maharashtra, where election officials have been racing to distribute and digitise enumeration forms for nearly 9.8 crore electors. Urban districts, including Pune, Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban and Thane, have been lagging behind the state average in digitisation.The extension is expected to provide additional time for booth-level officers to complete door-to-door verification and for voters who are yet to submit their enumeration forms before the preparation of the draft electoral rolls.Many political parties and groups wanted the extension. Congress MLC Satej Patil had raised the matter in the assembly while minister Chandrakant Patil had told TOI that he would request for a one-month extension. While ten days have been given, BLOs said it will still be rushed. “There should have been atleast a one month extension,” a BLO said.The commission has directed the Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer to inform all election officials about the revised schedule, ensure wide publicity through all available media and communicate the modified timeline to all recognised political parties in writing.
