Shillong, May 12: Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer Dr. BDR Tiwari on Tuesday said the state is fully prepared to undertake the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and is awaiting the schedule from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to begin the exercise. “Whenever the schedule for Meghalaya is announced by the Election Commission of India, we will go ahead with it,” Tiwari told reporters, adding, “Everything is up to the ECI.”
Describing the SIR as a mandatory and comprehensive verification of electoral rolls, Tiwari said the exercise has already been completed in Bihar and 12 other states.
Explaining the process, he said the revision would follow citizenship cut-off provisions under the Indian Citizenship Act. “First is July 1, 1987. Whoever is born in India before that, they are Indian citizens by birth,” he stated.
Since Meghalaya last carried out an SIR exercise in 2005, the electoral roll published in December 2004 will serve as the reference point for the revision. “Whoever’s name is there, they just serve the lineage,” Tiwari explained.
He said both existing voters and fresh applicants above the age of 18 would need to establish lineage by producing documents related to their parents or grandparents along with proof of identity. “Parents or grandparents should be voters. They have to produce records of their parents, grandparents along with proof of identity,” he said, adding that the ECI has already notified the list of acceptable documents.
Reiterating the state’s readiness, Tiwari said all election personnel, including Booth Level Officers (BLOs), supervisors, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AROs), are in place for the exercise. “Whatever manpower is required from the election side, we are ready,” he said.
However, the CEO expressed concern over the slow pace of appointment of Booth Level Agents (BLAs) by political parties in Meghalaya. “We keep on requesting political parties to appoint BLAs but somehow that progress is not very proactive,” he said, adding that it reflects the confidence political parties have in the state’s election machinery. “Earlier also they had no complaints regarding election machinery,” he added.
Tiwari further informed that a table-top review conducted using the 2005 SIR data showed encouraging results. “We did the table-top exercise and found around 80% names have been verified in the state. That is good in respect to our state,” he said.
Dismissing allegations of bias in the process, the CEO asserted that elections in the country are conducted in a transparent and fair manner. “I cannot comment on that but no such complaints have been proven. Everything happens in a very transparent, free and fair manner throughout the country. We are very confident it will be as per law,” he said.
Tiwari also noted that the SIR schedule would follow the ongoing Census operations. “The census operation is already ongoing as notified. The schedule for SIR will be announced subsequently by the ECI,” he added.
