The special intensive revision, or SIR, of voter rolls is in full swing in Haryana's Faridabad, and Booth Level Officers, known as BLOs, are working from early morning to late night filling forms and untangling residents' problems. The single biggest headache in this exercise involves families whose names simply cannot be traced in the old 2002 voter list.
The 2002 list has become the biggest bottleneck
Many residents say they have been voting for years without interruption, yet when officials pull up the old records, neither their own name nor their parents' names show up. In such cases, BLOs are having people fill fresh forms so the record can be updated from scratch. That is also why BLO teams keep repeating the same appeal: July 14, 2026 is the last date, so forms should be submitted well before then to avoid trouble later.
400 people a day, on duty from 8 am to 8 pm
Sumitra, a BLO posted at the Jhadsentli community centre, says she stays on duty continuously from 8 am to 8 pm. Around 400 people reach her desk in a single day, some carrying online requests and others turning up for offline forms. According to Sumitra, the 2002 list causes the most trouble because many names simply do not appear in it directly. In such cases she digs up the old record using options like search detail and no link, updates the form, after which the person's full data starts showing up online. She adds that cases involving children rarely cause problems, but records of older voters and elderly citizens throw up far more difficulties.
An uncle's name turns up, but the parents' names vanish
Sumitra says she has also come across cases where some members of the same family have records on file while others simply do not. In one family, an uncle's name was found in the voter list, but the same family's parents' names were nowhere to be found. Untangling such cases takes considerable time. Sumitra fills the form online from her end, but what the Sector 12 office ultimately decides will only become clear later. That is precisely why she keeps telling people not to wait for the last date and to submit their forms in time.
Several people still not showing up despite repeated calls
Sumitra says there are still people who have not come forward to fill their forms despite being called repeatedly, especially those living in slum settlements, who often have to be informed several times over. Many also ask what benefit SIR will actually bring them. Sumitra's response is that people need to understand the importance of their vote, because if the form is not submitted in time, they may later have to make repeated trips to the Sector 12 office. Since BLOs are currently sitting right in the village to help, she says people should make the most of this window.
An elderly man, alone in the world, pleads for his vote to be registered
BLO Nirmal says an elderly man of around 70 years came to her, who is entirely alone, with no son, no wife and no other family member. He told her his name could not be found anywhere and that he was deeply distressed about it. The elderly man told Nirmal, son, get my vote registered, I have no one in this world. Nirmal says she has filled his form online, and the final picture will only be clear once the record is located and approved further up the chain. She says such cases are coming to her almost every day.
Losing parents makes tracing the old record even harder
Nirmal says people whose parents have already passed away are facing significant trouble too, since other family members are often unable to provide complete information, which makes it harder to trace the old record. An elderly woman named Hukkama, from the same village, came to Nirmal with exactly this problem. Hukkama says she is over 60 years old and has always voted at the same booth. Her husband's name is Suryamal, but her own name is missing from the 2002 voter list, even though she still has her old voter card. Nirmal says she is trying everything possible in such cases; Hukkama's form has also been filled online for now, and the wait is for the rest of the process to be completed. The BLO team continues to urge everyone to make sure their form is submitted before July 14, 2026.
