ECI Appoints 10 Senior IAS Officers To Oversee Odisha’s Electoral Roll Revision

Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday appointed 10 senior IAS officers as Electoral Roll Observers to supervise the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-2026 of electoral rolls in Odisha, with July 1, 2026, as the qualifying date.

The observers will oversee the revision process across districts to ensure a transparent, inclusive and error-free update of the state's electoral rolls.

According to the notification, Rajesh Pravakar Patil will supervise Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Jajpur; Aravind Agrawal will oversee Balasore, Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj; Balwant Singh will monitor Kalahandi, Bolangir and Nuapada; B. Parameswaran will cover Subarnapur, Boudh and Kandhamal; and Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya will oversee Deogarh, Sambalpur and Bargarh.

D. Prasantha Kumar Reddy has been assigned Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada; Sudhansu Mohan Samal will supervise Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Angul; Rashmita Panda will oversee Puri, Khordha, Nayagarh and Bhubaneswar; Mohammed Sadique Alam will monitor Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri; while Sangram Keshari Mohapatra will cover Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda.

Under guidelines issued by the Additional Chief Electoral Officer and Special Secretary, each observer has been directed to visit the districts under their charge at least three times during the revision exercise. Besides reviewing work at district headquarters, they will inspect polling stations, interact with district election officials, and hold meetings with MPs, MLAs and representatives of recognised political parties.

The observers will also hear grievances from the public regarding voter enrolment, deletion or correction of entries and closely examine constituencies reporting unusually high additions or deletions in the electoral rolls. They will submit detailed reports to the Chief Electoral Officer after completing their inspections.

The draft electoral rolls under SIR-2026 will be published on July 5. Claims and objections can be filed between July 5 and August 4. Eligible voters may apply for inclusion through Form 6, seek deletion through Form 7, and request corrections using Form 8.