Mangaluru: The submission of SIR enumeration forms in Dakshina Kannada stood at 11.9% as of Monday, even as booth level officers (BLOs) distributed forms to nearly 98.5% of the district’s voters.Deputy commissioner Darshan HV said that of the 18,03,766 voters in the district, enumeration forms have been distributed to 17,75,811. However, even after this extensive distribution, only 2,13,939 people have filledout and returned the enumeration forms to us. This means only 11.9% of the citizens have returned the completed forms. He clarified that only the names on enumeration forms digitised by BLOs will be included in the draft electoral roll.“We need to digitise the enumeration forms of all these citizens before July 29. For BLOs to digitise these forms in their app, it takes at least 2 to 4 minutes per form. To digitise the forms of lakhs of voters, we require thousands of hours. Through these enumeration forms, we are facilitating the voting rights of every single citizen in our district. In ensuring this right is provided to you, your cooperation alongside our role is highly required,” the DC said. While it is true that voters have time until July 29, if they submit the forms on July 27 or 28, it becomes extremely difficult for BLOs to digitise thousands of enumeration forms within just one or two days, he added.If voters require any assistance in filling out the enumeration form, the district administration has opened voter facilitation centres within the jurisdiction of every polling station. Officials will clear any doubts one may have and help in completing the enumeration form, the DC said.BJP creates atmosphere of suspicionMLC Ivan D’Souza told reporters on Tuesday, that the BJP has been creating an atmosphere of suspicion surrounding the SIR exercise in the state. D’Souza said there were instances where people had shifted from rented houses but their enumeration forms had been filled by political party workers. Referring to another instance, he alleged that even after a house had been demolished, BLOs were being pressured to submit enumeration forms in the names of the original occupants, he said, not mentioning the names of those behind such discrepancies.“We will file objections on behalf of the Congress after the draft electoral roll is published in case of illegal enrolment. Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner also should check such cases thoroughly,” he urged.Countering BJP’s campaigns against permanent residence certificates (PRC), the MLC said that the concept of domicile certificates was not new.Meanwhile, in a separate press conference, SDPI Mangaluru South unit has urged the district administration to train BLOs adequately to ensure flawless SIR exercise in the district.
