Palakkad, Nov 8 (IANS) A polling booth in Kerala’s remote Attappadi tribal belt became the first in the state to complete the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in a single day, achieving 100 per cent coverage of its 65 voters.

The successful drive at the Singampara Muthikulam tribal settlement in Palakkad’s Attappadi block was executed by a dedicated team of officials and students, including six girls from the Electoral Literacy Club (ELC) of Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Government Arts and Science College in Attappadi, which travelled over 120 km for the task.

Singampara Muthikulam Booth Level Officer (BLO) Kunjumon Thomas confirmed the smooth completion of the process.

“The electoral roll revision of all the 65 voters from 36 houses in the settlement has been completed without any issues. They cooperated with the SIR process without any hesitation. Generally, the voters in this tribal settlement actively participate in voting in every election,” said Thomas, who is also a teacher at a local school.

The team worked from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, patiently waiting for the voters’ return from work in the evening. This effort was part of a major initiative by the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Rathan U Kelkar, to maximise tribal voters’ participation in the SIR drive.

The CEO had personally addressed the community, issuing a letter on November 3 to the head (mooppan) of each Adivasi Unnathi (tribal settlement) in the massive Attappadi block, requesting complete participation in the SIR process.

A team led by Palakkad Election Deputy Collector N Sajid handed over and explained the CEO’s letter to the settlement head, who then read it out to the members.

S Anandhu, a final year BA student and student coordinator of the ELC at the RGM College, expressed the club’s long-term goal.

“We aim to achieve 100 per cent voting in all the polling booths in Attappadi tribal block in the elections,” said Anandhu, who has been working with ELC in the tribal belt for over five years, right from the school level.

District Master Trainer T Sathyan said they aim to complete the SIR across Attappadi by the December 4 deadline.

Kerala’s local body elections are scheduled for December this year, while the assembly polls are expected to be held in April 2026.

— IANS

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