Nagpur: The poll panel’s 10-day extension to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state is significant for urban Nagpur, where digitisation of enumeration forms has lagged rural areas.While rural assembly constituencies digitised 46.18% electors, urban constituencies managed only 14.15%, pulling down the district’s progress to 29.28%, with 13.58 lakh of 46.38 lakh electors digitised so far.In the revised schedule, the house-to-house enumeration exercise will now continue till Aug 8, while the draft electoral roll will be published on Aug 17. The extension is expected to give booth level officers (BLOs) additional time to finish verification, collect pending forms and expedite digitisation, particularly in urban pockets.District election data accessed by TOI shows 13.58 lakh enumeration forms have been digitised, accounting for 29.28% of Nagpur’s 46.38 lakh electors. The contrast, however, is stark. The district’s six rural constituencies have digitised over 10.11 lakh forms, while six urban constituencies managed only 3.46 lakh, despite accounting for a larger electorate.Among individual constituencies, Ramtek leads with 65% digitisation, followed by Umred at 59.7%. At the other end of the spectrum, Nagpur South has digitised only 8.57% of electorate, with Nagpur North (10.02%) and Nagpur West (10.45%) also clocking low figures.Poll officials attribute the gap to the nature of urban settlements. Unlike villages, where households are relatively stable and easier to locate, city BLOs often encounter locked houses, rented accommodation, gated societies, migrant populations and frequent address changes, all of which slow down both field verification and digital processing.“The additional time will help us focus on urban areas where verification is more challenging. Our teams are reviewing progress constituency-wise and efforts are being made to ensure no eligible voter is left out,” a senior district official said.Officials said the extension should not be seen as a reason for voters to delay submitting enumeration forms. Citizens have been urged to complete the process through respective BLOs or by using online facility.
