Nagpur: Maharashtra’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration phase concluded on Monday with 78.82% of its 9.78 crore electors digitised and 21.18% categorised as uncollectable as of 9pm of August 17, placing approximately 2.07 crore voters in a pool that could face deletion subject to verification and due process. Together, the two categories accounted for 99.997% of the state electorate at the last available official update.The 9pm figures are being treated as the latest available data for the exercise, which began on June 30, till the time of this news going to the Press. A senior election official said compilation continued till late Monday and consolidated closing figures would be released by individual districts or the state election authorities once the process was completed.The urban challenge remained stark at closure. Thane recorded just 61.52% digitisation with 38.48% uncollectable, Mumbai City 62.70% and 37.30%, Mumbai Suburban 65.90% and 34.10%, and Pune 68.34% and 31.65%, respectively.Vidarbha presented a markedly different picture. Based on the district-wise 9pm percentages, the region’s 11 districts together had approximately 34.96 lakh electors in the uncollectable pool, which may face deletion from the electoral list. The figure is approximate because the statewide sheet provides district-wise percentages rounded to two decimal places rather than absolute uncollectable numbers.Nagpur remained the clear Vidarbha outlier, with 14.43 lakh electors, or 31.11%, in the uncollectable pool and digitisation at just 68.85%. Amravati followed with around 3.53 lakh (13.86%) while Akola about 2.77 lakh probable deletion cases (17.36%), Chandrapur 2.70 lakh, Wardha 1.78 lakh, Gondia 1.61 lakh, Washim 1.34 lakh and Bhandara 1.33 lakh. Yavatmal had around 2.65 lakh uncollectable electors, Buldhana about 1.91 lakh and Gadchiroli 90,636. Despite these numbers, most Vidarbha districts finished above 80% digitisation, with Buldhana crossing 90%, while Nagpur remained well behind the regional pack.The numbers, officials stressed, do not mean that every elector in the uncollectable category will be deleted from voter list. These include cases where Enumeration Forms could not be collected, including electors found absent, shifted, deceased or otherwise untraceable during the exercise. Their status will undergo the prescribed scrutiny before the electoral roll is finalised.With enumeration now over, attention shifts to the draft electoral roll scheduled for publication on Aug 24. The draft is essentially a provisional revised voter list prepared after the enumeration exercise and will allow electors to check whether their names have been retained.Those left out will get an opportunity during the claims-and-objections period from Aug 24 to Sept 23 to seek inclusion or challenge an entry. Officials have also clarified earlier that an otherwise eligible citizen, whose name ultimately does not figure in the roll is not permanently barred from registration and can subsequently apply for inclusion through Form 6.The SIR exercise has, therefore, finished its largest field component, but Aug 24 will provide the first real measure of its impact — when Maharashtra’s revised draft electorate, and the names left outside it, become clear.
