Bhubaneswar, July 4:The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed 10 senior IAS officers as Electoral Roll Observers to oversee the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Odisha, aimed at ensuring a transparent and error-free revision process ahead of future elections.
The qualifying date for the revision has been fixed as July 1, 2026. The appointments were made through a notification issued by Additional Chief Electoral Officer-cum-Special Secretary Sushant Kumar Mishra, assigning each observer charge of specific districts across the state.
Under the arrangement, Rajesh Prabhakar Patil has been assigned Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Jajpur districts, while Arvind Agrawal will oversee Balasore, Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj. Balwant Singh has been entrusted with Kalahandi, Balangir and Nuapada, B. Parameswaran with Subarnapur, Boudh and Kandhamal, and Dr. Bijay Ketan Upadhyay with Deogarh, Sambalpur and Bargarh.
Similarly, D. Prasanna Kumar Reddy has been appointed for Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada, Sudhanshu Mohan Samal for Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Angul, Rashmita Panda for Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh and Bhubaneswar, Mohammed Sadique Alam for Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri, and Sangram Keshari Mahapatra for Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda.
As per the guidelines, each observer will visit the districts under their charge at least three times during the revision exercise. Besides reviewing progress at district headquarters, they will inspect polling stations across Assembly constituencies to assess the implementation of the revision process on the ground.
The observers will also hold meetings with Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and representatives of recognised political parties to hear their grievances and seek their cooperation in ensuring a fair and transparent revision. Members of the public will also be allowed to meet the observers to raise complaints or issues related to the electoral rolls. Their tour schedules and contact details will be widely publicised in the respective districts.
The Election Commission has directed observers to closely scrutinise Assembly constituencies where the rate of voter additions or deletions exceeds the district average by more than one per cent or where such changes cross three per cent in a constituency. In such cases, they will personally examine the reports submitted by District Election Officers before submitting detailed findings to the Chief Electoral Officer, Odisha.
The Chief Electoral Officer has stressed that the exercise aims to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the electoral roll, no ineligible voter is included, and the entire revision process is carried out with complete transparency.
Meanwhile, the draft electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision-2026 will be published on July 5 following the completion of the enumeration form distribution and collection process.
Claims and objections to the draft electoral roll can be filed from July 5 to August 4, 2026. Eligible citizens can apply for inclusion of their names through Form 6, seek deletion of names through Form 7, and request corrections or updates through Form 8.
