Hyderabad: Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from Hyderabad are confused over the fate of their names in the voters’ list following the announcement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Telangana.
They are confused about whether their relatives in India can fill out their enumeration form or not.
Confusion of Hyderabad NRIs over SIR
An NRI, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that there are many people from Hyderabad who had registered as voters in the city and later moved to other countries in search of better opportunities or for higher studies.
Although they have not taken citizenship of another country, they are not ordinary residents of India, which is one of the eligibility criteria to become a voter.
As per the law, NRIs need to register themselves as overseas voters by filling out ‘form 6A’ (click here). They can register in the assembly constituency based on the address mentioned in their passport.
However, confusion was triggered after the enumeration form (click here to view EF) of the SIR, which was conducted in other states and Union Territories, mentioned “Signature/Left Thumb impression of Elector or Any Adult Family Member (mention relationship) with date.”
During the exercise, in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh, a case was registered after a woman reportedly submitted enumeration forms on behalf of her two sons, who have been living abroad in Dubai and Kuwait for several years.
Later, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Uttar Pradesh, speaking to media persons, said that the enumeration forms of NRIs cannot be filled out by their relatives.
According to the Election Commission of India website, “a citizen of India, absent from the country owing to employment, education etc., has not acquired citizenship of any other country and is otherwise eligible to be registered as a voter at the address mentioned in your passport.”
House-to-house verification in Telangana
On Saturday, May 16, Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy said that the SIR of electoral rolls would be conducted in the state from June 15.
He said preparation of the electoral roll would begin from June 15 to 24, while house-to-house verification would be taken up from June 25 to July 24.
During the verification process, as many as 35,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would be deployed across the state. The BLOs would visit residences and hand over the enumeration forms. They would later collect the filled-out forms, he told reporters here.
Later, the draft notification (of electoral rolls) would be issued and claims and objections would be accepted from July 31 to August 30.
During the SIR in Telangana, NRIs from Hyderabad and other cities can fill out the form online.
The final electoral roll would be published on October 1.
List of documents needed
Those who successfully find their names in both the current electoral roll and the 2002 SIR list will be mapped. However, those who are not in the earlier SIR list need to link themselves to one of the following relatives.
- Father
- Mother
- Maternal grandfather
- Maternal grandmother
- Paternal grandfather
- Paternal grandmother
Those who successfully find their or their relatives’ names in the 2002 SIR list do not need to submit any documents.
However, voters whose names appear under anomalies can get notices in the following cases:
- In case of mapping with parents:
- Age gap between voters and parents less than 15 years
- Age gap between voters and parents more than 50 years
- In case of mapping with maternal/paternal grandparents:
- Age gap between voters and maternal/paternal grandparents less than 40 years
- More than six persons mapped with a single person listed in the 2002 SIR list.
In all of the above-listed discrepancies, the voters are most likely to get notices. However, in such cases, the voters just need to prove the relationship with the elector in the 2002 SIR list.
As per Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa, to reply to logical discrepancy notices, voters can submit any documents, not necessarily ECI-listed documents, to prove the relationship.
Those who are mapped with parents may be asked to provide any document mentioning both their name and their father’s/mother’s name.
In case of mapping with maternal grandparents, the electors may be asked to provide any document mentioning both their name and their mother’s name. Apart from it, such electors need to provide their mother’s document mentioning her name and her father’s/mother’s names.
In case of mapping with paternal grandparents, the electors may be asked to provide any document mentioning both their name and their father’s name. Apart from it, such electors need to provide their father’s document mentioning his name and his father’s/mother’s names.
In the case of those who remain unmapped, they need to submit any one of the following ECI-listed documents.
