In a decisive move to deliver accurate, inclusive and error-free voter lists ahead of future elections, Odisha Chief Electoral Officer R.S. Gopalan today chaired a high-level review meeting with the ten IAS officers newly appointed as Voter List Observers for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026.
The hybrid-mode meeting, held at the CEO’s office, was attended by Additional CEO Sushant Kumar Mishra, Joint CEO Gopinath Kumar, Deputy CEO Dr Laxmiprasad Sahu, Anamika Singh and other senior officials. The ten IAS observers joined the deliberations to assess the progress of the massive exercise.
The meeting reviewed the successful completion of enumeration form distribution and collection across the state, the ongoing digitisation drive and the final preparations for publishing the Draft Electoral Roll. Observers were also given a detailed briefing on the entire SIR process and their specific responsibilities in the upcoming phases of claims, objections and final publication.
Just a day earlier, on July 3, the state government had deployed ten senior IAS officers as Voter List Observers for different clusters of districts.
The officers and their assigned districts are:
- Rajesh Prabhakar Patil (Cooperative Secretary) – Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur
- Arvind Agrawal (Higher Education Secretary) – Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj
- Balwant Singh (Tourism Secretary) – Kalahandi, Bolangir, Nuapada
- B. Parameshwaran (SC & ST Secretary) – Subarnapur, Boudh, Kandhamal
- Bijay Ketan Upadhyay (Odia Language, Literature & Culture Secretary) – Deogarh, Sambalpur, Bargarh
- D. Prashant Kumar Reddy (IDCO Managing Director) – Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada
- Sudhanshu Mohan Samal (Central RDC) – Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul
- Rashmita Panda (MSME Secretary) – Puri, Khordha, Nayagarh, Bhubaneswar
- Mohammad Sadiq Alam (General Industries Secretary) – Nabarangpur, Koraput, Malkangiri
- Sangram Keshari Mahapatra (RDC) – Kendujhar, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda
Addressing the observers, CEO Gopalan stressed the need for close monitoring of the draft electoral roll scrutiny and the swift resolution of objections and complaints. He directed them to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded and that the final voter list remains accurate, comprehensive and completely error-free.
The meeting marks a significant step in Odisha’s preparations for the Special Intensive Revision 2026, reinforcing the state’s commitment to a transparent and participatory electoral process.
