Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 9 Jun: The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) programme was formally launched across Uttarakhand yesterday with Governor Gurmit Singh and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami receiving enumeration forms on the inaugural day. In addition, leaders of recognised national political parties, including the state presidents of the BJP and Congress, the CPI (M) state secretary and the BSP state secretary, were also handed forms as part of the launch.
On the second day today, Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan was handed over the enumeration form by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Dr BVR Purushottam.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) distributed a total of 4,90,252 enumeration forms on the first day, of which 13,736 were digitised. The campaign will continue until 7 July, during which BLOs will visit households to distribute and collect forms. Uttarakhand has 79,60,762 voters, with 11,732 BLOs deployed, of whom 9,595 are trained, representing 82 per cent of the total. Each BLO is tasked with contacting an average of 679 voters within the one‑month timeframe.
On the first day, each BLO distributed an average of 42 forms.
Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande said that progress across districts is satisfactory, though review meetings have been directed in areas where the pace is slow. He emphasised that BLOs will not face undue pressure as they have been trained thrice, with issues related to the BLO app addressed during training. Mapping of 88 per cent of voters was completed during the pre‑SIR exercise, which will ease the process of filling forms. IT volunteers have been deployed at booth level to assist BLOs, while political parties have nominated Booth Level Agents to further facilitate the exercise.
Jogdande added that BLOs have been provided kit bags and mobile recharge support, with district election officers instructed to extend any additional assistance required. Toll‑free voter helplines are available at 1950 in all districts and 1800 3300 1950 at the state level for queries. He said the aim is to achieve 100 per cent distribution of forms within the first ten days, with digitisation carried out simultaneously.
Despite Uttarakhand’s challenging geography and the onset of the monsoon, the SIR process is progressing steadily. The Election Commission has directed that sensitive areas be given special attention, ensuring that the exercise reaches every voter effectively and strengthens the integrity of the electoral rolls.
