Telangana CM urges EC to extend SIR claims, objections period by four weeks
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday urged the Election Commission to extend the period for filing claims and objections under the SIR by four weeks from September 19.
In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, he said the period presently notified for claims and objections from August 17 to September 16, with the final publication scheduled for September 19, is very short for a mammoth exercise of SIR.
“I would request that this period be extended by four weeks, so that electors whose names are missing from the draft rolls- the ASDD (absent, shifted, dead, duplicate) class particularly- have a sufficient time to find out where they stand and to file Form 6 claims,” Reddy said. He observed that the Election Commission manual provides for the draft roll to be read out at Gram Sabhas, and, in urban areas, at ward committee meetings so that omissions can be identified and rectified while there is still time.
The CM suggested that the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer be asked to direct District Election Officers specifically to convene these meetings at least twice. He requested that each elector be allowed at least three to four weeks to reply to the notice issued to them during SIR, as daily wage earners, migrant workers may find it difficult to gather the documents and furnish reply in one week. The Chief Minister suggested opening help desks, particularly in urban districts, to help voters respond to the notice.
Recalling the EC’s clarification that the Telangana Government’s Family Register Certificate will not be accepted in SIR verification, he said the voters may not possess any of the admissible documents.
He urged the EC that a “widened” list of documents be notified, which should include papers obtainable at the mandal level. Reddy also sought deploying more Additional Electoral Registration Officers and permitting hearings over claims and objections below the ERO level.
