Tamil Nadu SIR Midway Faces Distribution Glitches and Voter Access Challenges

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, underway since November 4 and now at its midpoint, has been touted by the Chief Electoral Officer's office as largely successful, with claims that 92% of the state's 6.47 crore voters have received enumeration forms despite minor glitches. In contrast, on-the-ground reporting from various districts paints a far less optimistic scenario, revealing systemic gaps in delivery and execution that disproportionately impact vulnerable groups such as tenants, individuals who have recently changed residences, and women relocating post-marriage to their spouses' homes.

Key challenges in form distribution include widespread reports of electors receiving only a single form contrary to the requirement of two copies, prompting ad-hoc adjustments by booth-level officers (BLOs) who sometimes withhold extras as backups or limit completion to partial sections. Door-to-door efforts have frequently been abandoned in favor of makeshift centers like ration shops, particularly in areas with high mobility or absenteeism, while BLOs express uncertainty over protocols for voters shifting within the same polling area, leading to outright refusals and heightened frustration among daily wage earners unavailable during standard visiting hours.

Completing the forms presents another major hurdle, as sections demanding details from the 2002-2005 SIR prove inaccessible for many, especially in rural locales where online tools yield mismatched EPIC numbers or require unfamiliar navigation. Elderly villagers and low-literacy households have shared viral complaints about inadequate guidance, with BLOs declining hands-on help due to workload pressures, though the Election Commission has empowered booth-level agents from recognized parties to verify and submit up to 50 forms daily to accelerate the process.

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BLOs, drawn primarily from revenue departments, anganwadi centers, and schools, report extreme overburdening, managing distributions alongside regular duties without sufficient breaks or resources, a situation exacerbated by incomplete address data on forms. This has culminated in the Federation of Associations of Revenue Employees announcing a full boycott of SIR tasks starting November 18, citing inadequate training, staffing shortages, and harassing late-night review sessions, with demands for extended timelines and additional support personnel.

As the Election Commission insists over six crore forms have reached voters and urges political stakeholders' involvement for completion, the accumulating discrepancies threaten the integrity of the upcoming draft rolls, underscoring the urgent need for targeted interventions to prevent widespread disenfranchisement and restore public confidence in this critical democratic exercise.

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