Bhubaneswar, July 3 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed 10 senior IAS officers in Odisha as Electoral Roll Observers to ensure the smooth conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in the state.

Meanwhile, the qualifying date for the revision has been fixed as July 1.

According to a notification issued by Additional Chief Electoral Officer-cum-Special Secretary Sushanta Kumar Mishra, the observers have been assigned responsibility for different districts across the state. All observers have been directed to visit their assigned districts at least three times during the electoral roll revision process to review the progress.

The observers have also been instructed not to limit their visits to district headquarters. Instead, they will personally inspect polling stations in different Assembly constituencies.

“During the visit, you are requested not to limit yourself to the district headquarters and visit some polling stations of the Assembly constituencies. During your visit, you should convene a meeting of sitting MPs, MLAs and representatives of political parties to hear their grievances and complaints and seek their active involvement in the revision process,” the notification reads.

Similarly, members of the public will also be given an opportunity to meet the observers and raise any issues or complaints related to the electoral rolls. The tour schedule and contact details, including telephone and mobile numbers of the observers, will be widely publicised in the respective districts to facilitate easy public access.

In Assembly constituencies where the rate of deletion or addition of voters exceeds 1 per cent above the district average, or where the rate exceeds 3 per cent in any particular constituency, the observers will personally scrutinise the reports and reasons submitted by the District Election Officers.

After completing their field visits and review, all observers will submit detailed reports to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha.

The CEO has stressed that the process must ensure that no eligible voter is left out, no ineligible voter is included, and that the entire exercise is carried out in a transparent manner.

Meanwhile, following the completion of the distribution and collection of enumeration forms under the Special Intensive Revision-2026, the draft electoral roll will be published on July 5, 2026.

After the publication of the draft electoral roll, objections and claims can be filed between July 5 and August 4, 2026.

If any errors are found in the draft electoral roll after July 5, eligible citizens may apply for inclusion of names through Form 6, seek deletion of names through Form 7, and request corrections or modifications through Form 8.

–IANS

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