After Bihar, Rajasthan has now geared up for a massive overhaul of its electoral rolls as the state begins a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists—the first such effort since 2002–03. Leading the initiative, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Naveen Mahajan has started convening review meetings with district-level officials to ensure the smooth rollout of this long-overdue exercise.
“The objective of the SIR program is to ensure the purification and transparency of voter lists so that every eligible citizen can exercise their franchise properly,” said Mahajan during a detailed meeting with Divisional Commissioners, District Election Officers, and Subordinate Electoral Registration Officers from Ajmer and Bikaner divisions.
As part of the preparatory steps, the Election Department has trained 43 master trainers who will be deployed across 41 districts. These trainers are now tasked with educating Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who will go door-to-door to identify discrepancies, eliminate ineligible names, and register new voters. Mahajan has also instructed that help desks be established from the Gram Panchayat level all the way up to the district headquarters. He emphasized that the personnel assigned to these desks must be well-versed with the SIR procedures and should be able to assist citizens efficiently.
Highlighting the urgency and seriousness of the initiative, Mahajan mentioned that additional human resources—including BLOs, information assistants, supervisors, and volunteers—will be appointed in the days to come. Special inspection teams will also be formed to conduct surprise audits and ensure that no eligible voter is left out due to negligence or oversight.
In addition to the correction of the voter list, the rationalisation of polling stations is also being planned as part of the revision exercise. Factors like voter population, distance, ease of access, and infrastructure availability will be taken into account while reorganizing polling stations to make voting more convenient for the public.
Currently, Rajasthan has approximately 5.75 crore registered voters. All of them will now be required to furnish documents mandated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to confirm their eligibility and validate their details in the voter rolls.
