Telangana: SIR Crawls In Warangal Despite Deadline Extension

The united Warangal district, comprising Warangal, Hanamkonda, Jangaon, Mahbubabad, Mulugu and Bhupalpally, has over 3.1 million voters. Booth level officers (BLOs) have largely completed door-to-door distribution of voter verification forms, but collection of completed forms remains slow.

Officials attributed the delay to a shortage of BLOs, the volume of forms, difficulty among voters in arranging required documents, and illiteracy in rural areas.

District collectors have deployed additional staff and engaged personnel from the revenue, panchayat raj, municipal administration and education departments to support the exercise. However, progress remains below expectations.

Official sources said about 50 per cent of the forms have been collected so far. The remaining work, including verification of forms, scrutiny of documents and disposal of objections, is yet to be completed.

Help desks have been set up at tahsildar offices, municipal offices, gram panchayats, secretariats and polling stations to facilitate submission of forms and provide assistance to voters.

Officials said migration of families to cities has affected field work, with several houses remaining locked, requiring repeated visits by BLOs. Elderly and illiterate voters are also facing difficulty in completing forms, prompting officials to assist them.

Authorities have identified cases of voters enrolled in more than one location, which are under scrutiny to ensure compliance with electoral rules. Verification is also under way for deceased voters, those who have shifted residence and changes in address.

Officials said the pace of form collection needs to increase to complete the exercise within the August 3 deadline.