In a significant push towards cleaner and more accurate electoral rolls, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner of India, Gyanesh Bharti, chaired a high-level review meeting at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Bhubaneswar today.
The meeting focused on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 of electoral rolls across Odisha.
Officials reported that before the SIR began, Odisha had approximately 3.33 crore registered voters. Of these, 3.16 crore (94.6%) were successfully mapped, leaving only 5.34% unmapped.
As of today (June 16), 99.20% of enumeration forms have been distributed to voters, and 46.44% of these forms have already been digitised. Sundargarh district has emerged as the top performer in the state, leading both in form distribution and digitisation.
Bharti held detailed one-on-one discussions with District Collectors and District Election Officers from nine districts, assessing ground-level challenges, bottlenecks, and solutions. Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sushant Kumar Mishra presented a comprehensive PowerPoint on the state’s progress.
Expressing satisfaction with the pace of work, Bharti directed officials to complete the entire process well before the deadline. He emphasised that no eligible voter should be left out and called for heightened focus on inclusivity.
Key Measures Taken for Smooth Execution
To ensure hassle-free implementation, the Election Commission has:
- Imposed a ban on transfers and new postings of officers involved in SIR work across all Assembly constituencies.
- Appointed an additional 275 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers.
- Conducted meetings with all recognised political parties.
- Set up hearing camps at the Assistant ERO level for claims and objections.
- Provided specialised training to all District EROs, EROs, and AEROs.
- Established help desks at the district and state levels for voter support.
For SIR-2026, the state has deployed 31 District Election Officers, 147 Electoral Registration Officers, and 994 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers.
While the official deadline for form distribution and submission is June 28, the Chief Electoral Officer has instructed the nine reviewed districts to complete the process by June 23–24 to maintain momentum.
