Ranchi: Booth level officers (BLOs) in parts of Ranchi and Khunti districts have hit a deadlock after more than 2,200 residents of a community refused to participate in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and declined to fill enumeration forms.The residents have stayed firm despite repeated visits by BLOs and district administration officials. The matter was brought to the notice of state chief electoral officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar, who visited Khunti on Tuesday and met some of them. They, however, again refused to join the exercise.“I visited the people concerned on Tuesday to understand why they decided not to participate in the SIR process,” Kumar told n. “They told me they do not want their names on the voter list. If they do not fill the enumeration forms, their names will not feature on the draft electoral roll,” he said.Sanni Toppo, BLO of booth no. 132, earlier booth 127, at Govt Middle School, Bhandara, said refusals have continued despite several attempts. “Whenever we approached them, they refused to participate. Even the local block development officer accompanied us, but nothing could be resolved,” she said.Toppo said around 18 families, comprising nearly 70 people under her booth, have refused to take part in the SIR exercise. Sources said the school where the booth is located falls in the Jillinga area of Khunti district.Toppo said the residents identify themselves as members of ‘AC Samaj’. AC stands for ‘Ante Christum Natum’, Latin for ‘before the birth of Christ’. She said Pathalgadi inscriptions are visible at several places in the area. Pathalgadi is a practice of erecting stone slabs to honour the dead or mark boundaries.Toppo said the residents also do not want Aadhaar cards, ration cards or other official documents, and have sought deletion of their names from the electoral rolls. Kumar said the residents told him they surrendered their Aadhaar and ration cards too.Another BLO, Manju Devi, said people in some villages indicated during the pre-SIR phase that they did not want to be listed as voters. Kumar said efforts to persuade them would continue during the claims and objections phase.
