By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Buckling under the pressure of the opposition parties, the Election Commission on Saturday announced a series of measures to ease the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including home visits by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for people who receive notices over unmapped entries or logical discrepancies and an extension of the claims and objections deadline in Delhi and Maharashtra.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the full Election Commission held at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi in the afternoon. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi attended the meeting.
Under the revised procedure, people issued SIR notices for being unmapped or having logical discrepancies need not ordinarily appear before the ERO/AERO. BLOs will visit their homes to collect the required documents and upload them on ECINET for consideration by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). Hearings will be held only in exceptional cases, preferably online, as decided by the ERO.
The Commission also said that an elector may authorise any adult family member to attend a hearing on their behalf, if required, and directed that facilities for online hearings be strengthened.
To assist vulnerable sections, District Election Officers have been asked to establish adequate help desks and hold special camps for people living in night shelters, labourers, poor people and homeless persons, depending on local requirements.
The Commission also decided to have ECINET reviewed by a committee headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT. The committee will examine whether the system complies with the relevant laws and rules and submit its report to the Commission. Further IT initiatives and portal changes will henceforth be discussed by the Committee of Officers before being placed before the Commission.
On the timelines, the ECI extended the period for filing claims and objections in Delhi till October 30, with disposal of notices and claims and objections extended till November 30. In Maharashtra, the filing deadline has been extended till October 12, while disposal has been extended till November 10.
The Commission also said the declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Supreme Court, while forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 will continue to apply during the non-SIR period.
The Commission’s decisions come amid heightened scrutiny of its functioning following a report by The Indian Express that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on record on at least 14 occasions over 10 months on issues related to the SIR and other poll-related processes. The ECI has said that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberation and maintained that decisions of the full Commission over the past year were unanimous.
The report has since triggered political criticism, with Opposition parties demanding greater transparency and answers from the poll panel, while the BJP has questioned aspects of the newspaper’s report and defended the Commission’s decision-making process. The latest measures announced by the ECI, particularly the easing of the SIR notice process, review of ECINET and extension of claims and objections deadlines, come against this backdrop of heightened scrutiny. The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has asked Gyanesh Kumar to resign within 48 hours over the issue.