Koraput: The Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-2026 of the electoral roll in the Kotia panchayat under Pottangi block in the district came under review on Tuesday as deputy secretary Jitendra Kumar Patra, deputed from the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), Odisha, visited the disputed border area in Koraput district to assess the ongoing claims and objections process.During the visit, Patra inspected several polling stations and reviewed the progress of applications received for inclusion, deletion and correction of names in the electoral roll under the SIR-2026 exercise. He interacted with election officials, booth level officers (BLOs) and other field functionaries to assess the implementation of the revision programme and the status of verification work.Patra emphasised that the preparation of a clean, transparent and error-free electoral roll should remain the highest priority. He directed officials to ensure that all claims and objections are scrutinised strictly in accordance with the prescribed rules and disposed of within the stipulated timeframe.“No eligible voter should face any inconvenience in exercising his or her electoral rights. Every application must be verified fairly and processed in a transparent manner,” Patra said while reviewing the field-level exercise. District administration and election department officials briefed the deputy secretary on the overall progress of the SIR-2026 programme in Kotia, including the number of claims and objections received, their verification status and the mechanism being followed for their disposal.Officials said the review was aimed at ensuring that the electoral roll revision process in the sensitive Kotia region is carried out in a free, fair and transparent manner, with all eligible voters included in the final electoral roll in accordance with the Election Commission’s guidelines.Kotia gram panchayat has remained at the centre of a decades-old inter-state boundary dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The panchayat comprises 28 villages, of which 21 are claimed by both states. While the matter is pending before the Supreme Court since 1968, both govts have continued extending welfare schemes and administrative services to residents, making every electoral exercise in the region closely watched.
