SIR Deadline extended to 11 December amid nationwide protests; Election Commission revises schedule as BLOs report severe pressure and opposition alleges voter deletions.
By Qalam Times News Network
Dateline: New Delhi | 30 November
SIR Deadline has once again taken center stage in India’s political debate. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has pushed the final date for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories to 11 December, stepping back after days of protests, public pressure, and alarming reports from the ground.
The move comes at a moment when Parliament’s winter session—beginning 1 December—was expected to erupt over the issue. Opposition parties had warned of chaos, calling the SIR exercise rushed, unrealistic, and potentially dangerous.
ECI’s Shift Under Fire
The SIR Deadline extension—earlier fixed for 4 December—comes after the Commission admitted that officials needed extra breathing room to complete enumeration and publish the draft rolls responsibly. The updated schedule now reads:
- Enumeration ends: 11 December
- Draft rolls published: 16 December
- Final rolls published: 14 February
Earlier this week, TMC and several other opposition parties met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, urging him to rework the procedure. Their demands intensified after disturbing reports surfaced: overwhelming workloads, threats of disciplinary action, and even deaths by suicide among Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in states like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
Why the SIR Exercise Has Become Explosive
This nationwide SIR—the first of its kind after 2003—covers 51 crore voters across Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
The ECI insists that the goal is simple:
no eligible voter should be left out, and no ineligible name should remain.
But the opposition sees something very different.
Key Concerns Raised by Parties
- Large-scale voter deletions:
Bihar’s SIR resulted in removal of 65 lakh names—mostly minorities, migrants, and rural voters—triggering fears of political targeting. - “Voter theft” allegation:
Congress, TMC, SP, DMK and others call SIR a backdoor NRC-style screening that could benefit the ruling party. Rahul Gandhi termed it “institutional vote theft.” - Impact on migrants & women:
Migrant workers lack documents; married women face new paperwork hurdles. - Political pressure claims:
TMC alleges mass deletions in Bengal; SP says UP saw up to 50,000 deletions per assembly seat.
What BLOs Say: Overwork, Threats, and Trauma
BLOs—mostly teachers or low-ranking government staff—are bearing the brunt. Each officer must cover nearly a thousand voters, complete multiple home visits, digitize data, and attend nightly meetings.
They report:
- excessive workload and technical issues,
- threats of FIRs and salary cuts for missing targets,
- lack of training and support,
- and long hours exceeding physical limits.
One BLO in West Bengal, Rinku Tarafdar—who died by suicide—wrote that she had not received required digital training and couldn’t navigate outdated portals. Others have described late-night fieldwork with no medical help or rest.
In several states, BLOs have staged protests. The ECI has since opened help camps, but opposition parties call them inadequate.
A Process That Could Shape Democracy
With 51 crore voters in play, critics argue that the SIR exercise is too vast and too critical to be rushed. Many election experts and senior journalists say no BLO can realistically finish this task in the given timeframe—extended or not.
And that’s the heart of the storm:
A process meant to strengthen voter rolls is now raising fears about fairness, transparency, and the very credibility of the Election Commission.
