Reaching by camels: Rajasthans Barmer becomes first district to complete SIR target before deadline

New Delhi: In a remarkable achievement, Barmer in Rajasthan has become the first district in the country to complete the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) target ahead of schedule.

The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in Barmer reached remote locations, and as a result, a complete digitalisation has been achieved by them. According to District Collector Tina Dabi, "The strategy of keeping the BLOs stress-free has yielded excellent results.”

The SIR is going on in 12 states, and out of them, Barmer district has set a great example by completing its target before the stipulated time. The campaign, which began on November 4, had set a target of digitising and mapping the voter list by December 4, which was later extended to December 11.

Despite this, Barmer achieved first place among 12 states across the country by achieving 100 per cent digitisation and 98 per cent mapping before the deadline. District Election Officer Tina Dabi said the Barmer's vast geographical terrain posed the biggest challenge for the campaign. A large population lives in remote hamlets, and internet access is limited in many areas. Despite this, the BLO and ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) teams went to difficult areas on camels to reach out to voters and update the data.

Collector Dabi said that from the very first day of the campaign, a strategy was adopted to get better results by keeping the BLOs stress-free. She said that to reduce their workload, a team of four additional members, including Patwari, Gram Sevak, and Asha Sahayogi, was deployed, which increased the speed of work in the field and kept errors to a minimum.

Dabi said that ensuring accurate, transparent, and error-free voter lists is a top priority. The district team has achieved this goal through dedication, discipline, and consistent field work. She congratulated the people of the district, BLO, ERO and all the field staff for this collective success.

Meanwhile, the ECI has revised the deadline for the final publication of the cleansed voter rolls to February 14, a move aimed at bolstering the integrity and accuracy of the electoral process amidst mounting pressure. The enumeration period, originally scheduled to conclude on December 4, has now been extended to December 11. Consequently, the publication of the draft voter list, initially set for December 9, will now occur on December 16, and the final publication will occur on February 14.