Pune: Deputy election commissioner Gyanesh Bharti on Tuesday directed poll officials to complete the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls within the prescribed timeline, stressing that voter lists must be prepared with utmost accuracy and booth-level officers’ work closely monitored.Bharti reviewed the progress of the SIR programme in Pune division at the divisional commissioner’s office. He said every stage of the exercise should be completed as scheduled and that deficiencies should be rectified. “The work of preparing electoral rolls must be carried out with highest priority and responsibility. Officials should strictly adhere to the timelines and continuously monitor the progress of BLOs,” he said.The deputy election commissioner directed officials to verify every elector’s details while filling the forms. Chief electoral officer S Chockalingam, who joined the meeting via videoconference, told BLOs to conduct thorough house-to-house verification and ensure that applications, records, photographs, and supporting documents are completed accurately. He suggested that hearings in Pune district on claims and objections be held at the respective polling stations instead of the mandal level.The administration informed the commission that the drive was on course. Pune divisional commissioner Sheetal Teli-Ugale told TOI,“Despite the challenges posed by a large number of polling stations across the division, the required manpower has been deployed and the administration is making concerted efforts to complete the exercise within the Election Commission’s schedule.”Bharti expressed confidence that the revision exercise would be completed within the stipulated time frame, ensuring that no eligible voter is left out and no ineligible person is included in the rolls.Satara was the best-performing district, while Pune, despite the division’s largest electorate of 90.8 lakh, lagged on both distribution and digitisation.District collector Jitendra Dudi and municipal commissioners of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad attributed the slower pace to the district’s large migrant population, rapid urbanisation and logistical challenges of covering high-rises. They told the commission that field visits and digitisation efforts would be intensified over the coming days to bridge the gap.Head: Satara Dist Leads Pune Division’s ProgressDistricts covered I Pune, Satara, Solapur, Kolhapur, SangliElectors–2.16 crorePolling stations—21,237BLOs trained—21,237BLAs appointed–47,730District—Forms distributed—-DigitisedSatara—-89%——–39.6%Sangli—-86.6%—-18.7%Solapur—86%—-31%Kolhapur—80%—-27.6%Pune—47.2%—-10.8%Why Pune is lagging behindLargest electorate 90.8 lakh voters in the divisionLarge migrant populationExtensive high-rise housing societiesRapid urbanisation making door-to-door verification more challengingAdministration to intensify distribution and digitisation in the coming daysAs of Tuesday, 6.71 crore of the 9.78 crore forms were distributed in the state and 2.21 crore forms have been digitised.
