Initial phase of Bihar SIR completed, says ECI
'The initial phase of SIR, during which Enumeration forms were to be printed and distributed, is almost complete with the forms having been made available to all the electors who were available,' read a statement from the poll panel.
ECI also reiterated that SIR is being conducted as per the SIR instructions dated June 24, 2025 and there is no change in the instructions. As per instructions, draft electoral rolls that will be issued on 1 August 2025 will contain the names of persons whose enumeration forms are received.
'The electors can submit their documents any time before July 25, 2025. After publication of draft Electoral Rolls, if any document is deficient, EROs can obtain such documents, from the electors whose name appears in the draft Electoral Rolls, during scrutiny in the Claims and Objection period,' read the statement.
Notably, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar underlined the importance of carrying out a revision of the electoral rolls, saying that the poll panel has constantly held meetings with thousands of representatives of political parties, who had expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the electoral rolls.
'During the past 4 months, all 4,123 EROs, all 775 DEOs and all 36 CEOs have held nearly 5,000 meetings with 28,000 political party representatives. ECI has also invited all Recognised political parties for interaction. No one was satisfied with the current status of electoral rolls for one reason or the other,' the CEC said.
As of Sunday, 1,69,49,208 Enumeration Forms, that is 21.46 per cent of the total of 7,89,69,844 (nearly 7.90 crore) electors in Bihar who are enrolled as on June 24, 2025, have been received, according to EC. In the last 24 hours, that is till six PM on Saturday, 65,32,663 Enumeration Forms have been collected. There are still 19 days to go for the last date for submission of forms.
The uploading of forms has also started simultaneously in full swing with 7.25 percentage of the forms already uploaded so far. The partially filled forms are also available for download on the ECI portal (https://voters.eci.gov.in) as well on ECINET App and the filled forms can be uploaded by the elector himself on ECINET App.
77,895 BLOs are going house-to-house to help the electors fill out their Enumeration Forms and collect them. In a large number of cases, the BLOs are taking live pictures of the electors and uploading them, saving the elector the trouble of getting their pictures clicked.
Additionally, 20,603 BLOs are being appointed for the smooth and timely completion of the process. Nearly 4 lakh volunteers which includes government officials, NCC cadets, NSS members etc. are also working on the field to facilitate the elderly, PwDs, sick and vulnerable populations in the SIR process. Besides, 239 EROs covering all the 243 ACs, 963 AEROs, 38 DEOs and the CEO of the state are at the ground level to facilitate the electors to submit their forms.
1,54,977 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by various political parties are also providing active support in the SIR process. (ANI)
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