SIR in Punjab expected in April, EC asks to complete preparatory work

Chandigarh: The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Punjab, where assembly elections are due in around a year's time in 2027, is expected to start from April this year, with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday requesting 23 states/union territories, including Punjab, to complete preparatory work related to SIR at the earliest.On July 5, 2025, the ECI directed chief electoral officers (CEOs) of all the states (except Bihar, where the SIR of the electoral roll was already on in a pilot phase for the Nov 2025 assembly elections in the state) to initiate pre-revision activities for the SIR exercise. A functionary in the office of the Punjab CEO said as part of the preparatory work for the SIR, the exercise of comparison of voters' lists of 2003 with the current list had already been undertaken.
On June 24 last year, the ECI ordered the SIR of the electoral roll to be undertaken in all the states and UTs. On Oct 27 last year, the ECI announced the SIR exercise in 12 States/UTs, which is underway.