The Federation of Revenue Associations of Tamil Nadu (FERA) launched an indefinite boycott of all Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work across the state from Tuesday, effectively paralysing the ongoing electoral roll cleanup drive that is scheduled to conclude on December 4, citing unbearable workload, acute manpower shortage, unrealistic deadlines and complete absence of proper training for the complex digital process.
On Monday evening, thousands of revenue officials, village administrative officers and deputies staged simultaneous “Perundhiral” mass petition programmes outside the collectorates of 32 districts, submitting memoranda that highlighted how a single officer is being forced to handle 1,500–2,000 households while managing regular land revenue duties, leading to physical and mental exhaustion.
FERA state coordinator M P Murugaian announced that while all routine revenue department functions including patta transfers, certificates and emergency services will continue uninterrupted, every SIR-related activity — from house-to-house form distribution and collection to online data uploading and GIS mapping — has been completely suspended until the government addresses their core demands.
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The association is demanding immediate appointment of additional dedicated Booth Level Officers exclusively for SIR duties, comprehensive three-phase training for all personnel on the new ERONET portal, deployment of adequate supporting staff at taluk level, and an immediate end to marathon review meetings that routinely stretch beyond midnight followed by three video conferences daily.
With less than two weeks remaining before the December 4 cutoff, the boycott threatens to derail Tamil Nadu’s ambitious voter list purification exercise; senior election officials have expressed alarm that unless the standoff is resolved within days, thousands of genuine voters risk disenfranchisement while bogus entries may remain undetected in the final rolls published in January 2026.
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