Ahead of SIR, training of booth level officers starts

Panaji: In preparation for the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, training of booth level officers (BLOs) began on Friday and will continue in batches. Training for electoral registration officers (EROs) at the junior scale officer level and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) at the mamlatdar level has been completed.

Downloading and printing of enumeration forms have begun in preparation for the house-to-house enumeration that will begin on Nov 4 and continue till Dec 4. Help desks are also being set up in the state to provide assistance to members of the general public during the drive.

EROs are being encouraged to set up as many help desks as possible to help people fill out enumeration forms and locate their names and voter numbers in the 2002 rolls. This is in addition to the assistance that will be provided by booth level officers who will be going door to door,” an election official said.

“Right now, these help desks are being set up at the state and district levels, but depending on the resources and manpower, more may be set up,” the official added.

The draft rolls will be published on Dec 9, and the receipt of claims and objections will begin from Dec 9 until Jan 8. The period between Dec 9 and Jan 31 is the notice phase for hearings, following which the final rolls will be published on Feb 7.

The office of the chief electoral officer has stated that if people’s names or those of their parents feature in the 2002 rolls when the last SIR was carried out, they won’t have to produce any documents.