Panaji: In order to provide Goa’s voters an opportunity to be included in the electoral roll, the SIR citizens’ monitor has demanded that the period for filing appeals and claims be extended by one month. The group said that the existing 15-day period is inadequate.
It also demanded wide publicity with clear details regarding the time period available for filing appeals for inclusion in the SIR roll.
The Election Commission of India on Saturday published the final electoral roll for Goa following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The revision resulted in a net deletion of 1,27,468 voters. The total number of voters in the state now stands at 10,57,566.
The SIR citizens’ monitor said that the format for appeal developed by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Goa, should be published on the CEO Goa website. It further said that the format should be circulated to all panchayats for display on their notice boards and disseminated widely through print and social media. Another demand pertains to keeping the window for inclusion open until the next major elections in Goa for certain marginal categories of people.
The group also demanded that the CEO Goa, with the assistance of state authorities, set up SIR help centres for two consecutive days over weekends. These centres, it said, should provide information and assist gram sabha members seeking inclusion in the SIR during the appeals period.
“CEO Goa, organise consultations with civil society groups and political parties to identify categories of persons who have genuine difficulties in being accessible at their residence and/or producing the documents specified and establish alternative procedures and processes to enable categories of people with genuine difficulties to establish their case for inclusion”, the group said.
