It said that conducting the SIR simultaneously with local body elections will create significant administrative complications and potentially disrupt the smooth conduct of the local polls
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM-led LDF government in Kerala has moved the Supreme Court seeking the deferment of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls undertaken by the Election Commission of India, in view of the local body elections to be held in two phases in the state on December 9 and 11. It said the SIR, which would required a huge number of government employees, would affect the administration in the run-up to the local polls.
In its petition, the Kerala government urged the apex court to put on hold the SIR exercise at least until after the local body elections. The government pointed out that the manner in which the SIR was being undertaken was incompatible with the current election schedule.
As part of the SIR, enumeration by booth level officers (BLOs) must be completed by December 4. Submission of details is scheduled for December 9, and the publication of electoral rolls will take place on February 7 next.
The state government informed the court that carrying out the SIR simultaneously with the local body elections would put a huge burden on the administration. The local body polls alone would require 1.76 lakh staff from the government and quasi-government institutions, and an additional 68,000 police and security personnel.
Besides, the SIR requires another 25,668 personnel.
“This puts severe strain on the state administration, bringing routine administrative work to a standstill,” the petition said, adding that the same trained staff cannot be deployed for both tasks. Besides, the SIR's timeline also overlapped with election duties.
The state government further contended that there was no urgency to carry out a special revision now as the Assembly polls were due only by May next.
"Contrary to the mandatory timeline for completing the 2025 local body elections, there is no constitutional or statutory requirement to carry out the SIR simultaneously," the petition stated, adding that the ECI had not cited any special reason for initiating the revision exercise.
Suicide of BLO casts a shadow over the SIR exercise.
Widespread resentment prevails among BLOs over the death by suicide of their colleague Aneewsh George in Kannur, reportedly due to work pressure related to SIR. On the call given by the employees' union, BLOs observed a day-long strike across the state on Monday.
Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U. Kelkar has sought the help of political parties to appoint additional booth level agents (BLAs) to establish help desks for collecting filled forms from voters as permitted under the guidelines of ECI. The CEO said that over 96 per cent of the enumeration forms had been distributed as part of the SIR.
