As the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began in Karnataka, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar urged voters in the state to actively participate in the exercise and said that retaining their voter registration could become crucial for accessing government welfare benefits in the future.
Launching the statewide drive by filling out his own enumeration form at his Sadashivanagar residence, Shivakumar appealed to citizens to submit their forms before the July 29 deadline and update their mobile numbers to ensure their electoral records remain current.
Why did DK Shivakumar link welfare benefits to SIR exercise?
The Chief Minister said the government wants to ensure that only genuine Karnataka voters receive the benefits of the state's flagship guarantee schemes. He indicated that the state could consider linking welfare benefits to voter registration, similar to practices followed elsewhere.
"If a person is no longer a voter here, why should we continue giving guarantee benefits? If someone is registered as a voter somewhere else but is receiving guarantee benefits here, that should not happen," Shivakumar said.
He added that several states have already stopped extending welfare benefits to people who are not eligible to be included in the electoral rolls, suggesting Karnataka could adopt a similar approach. "We want to ensure that only voters from our state receive the benefits of the guarantee scheme. Why should these benefits be extended to people from other states? These benefits should be limited to the people of Karnataka," he said.
The Chief Minister also assured that the state government would extend all necessary assistance to genuine voters by helping them obtain the required documents so that their names remain on the electoral rolls.
Over 12.48 lakh enumeration forms distributed on first day
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls commenced across Karnataka on June 30 and will continue until July 29. While citizens can complete the process digitally through the Election Commission's app, physical enumeration forms are also being distributed across the state.
On Tuesday, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) began contacting people door-to-door as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign. On the first day, a total of 12,48,314 (2.5%) enumeration forms were distributed to voters, of which 47,817 forms were digitized.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka reported that voters submitted 6,840 forms online, while 488 forms were marked as ASDDO (absent, transferred, deceased, and duplicate). According to a release from the CEO Karnataka office, two forms were found to be uncollectable or illegible, 116 were listed as permanently shifted, 291 were marked as dead voters, and 77 were marked as already registered voters.
On the first day, the process was carried out by visiting the homes of prominent personalities and senior officials of the state. The process of filling and submitting the enumeration forms will continue for the next one month.
Also Read: EC begins SIR across five states; here's all you need to know about voter list revision exercise
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