SIR now part of class 9 NCERT textbook, EC lauded for impartial polls

New Delhi | The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is now part of the NCERT's class 9 Social Science textbook, which describes it as an exercise to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of the voter list and no ineligible person is included.

The new National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbook also lauds the Election Commission of India (ECI) for conducting impartial polls despite challenges such as fake news, misinformation and intimidation.

The SIR, which has so far led to the deletion of nearly 6 crore names from the electoral rolls and led to acrimony between the opposition parties and the ECI, has completed a year and continues in 19 states and Union territories.

The pilot SIR commenced in Bihar on June 24 last year ahead of the state polls. The result was a pruned voter list, with nearly 65 lakh names dropped amid claims by the opposition and activists that the ECI was working at the BJP's behest to disenfranchise citizens for want of documents.

"The ECI also conducts Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which involves updating, verifying and correcting the electoral rolls. Through SIR, it ensures that no eligible citizen is left out and no ineligible person is included in the electoral roll.

"This exercise ensures the addition of all voters, especially the young voters who have just turned 18 and may be left out due to a lack of awareness of any other reason," reads a section of the textbook titled "Understanding Society: India and Beyond".

It notes that SIR also deletes names based on death of the voter, change of residence, duplicate enrolment and being permanently untraceable.

"EC gives time to raise claims or objections against the revised electoral roll and settles these claims and objections before publishing the final electoral roll," it said.

The old class 9 textbook, in a chapter on electoral politics, had a section on voter lists, where it mentioned that "a complete revision of the list takes place every five years and this is done to ensure that it remains up to date".