Civil society flags lack of transparency in SIR notices, hearings in Hyderabad | Hyderabad News
Hyderabad: Civil society organisations and social activists from Telangana have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make the notice and hearing process under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) more transparent, alleging that voters are being issued notices without being told the precise discrepancies in their electoral records.In a representation sent on Sunday to chief election commissioner Gynesh Kumar and Telangana chief electoral officer Sudershan Reddy, the groups said voters have no mechanism to check the status of their cases, the documents submitted, or the decisions taken after hearings. The letter, sent by activist SQ Masood, was signed by representatives of several organisations.The representation said every notice should state the reason for summoning a voter, including details of the alleged mismatch, the corresponding entry in the 2002 SIR record, the voter’s particulars in the current electoral roll and the discrepancy identified.The groups sought a mechanism through which electors could view documents submitted by them as well as those uploaded by booth-level officers (BLOs), along with hearing details, BLO remarks, recommendations or decisions of the electoral registration officer (ERO) and district election officer (DEO), and the current status of each case.They said voters should be informed in writing if any document or explanation is considered insufficient and should be allowed to submit additional documents or clarifications before any adverse decision is taken ahead of the final publication of the electoral rolls.The representation said EROs should verify physical records before issuing notices and treat spelling variations, transliteration differences and clerical errors in the 2002 records as rectifiable discrepancies wherever applicable.The activists also asked the CEO to publish a daily, constituency-wise bulletin providing details of notices issued, voters who attended hearings, claims approved, cases rejected or not approved, and other disposal statistics.
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