Navi Mumbai Faces Race to Digitise 4.2 Lakh Voter Records Before August 17 Deadline
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) voter process in Navi Mumbai is facing a tight timeline, with the civic administration needing to digitise the records of over 4.21 lakh voters across the Airoli and Belapur constituencies ahead of an August 17 deadline. As of August 11, only 54.16 per cent of the total electorate has been covered under the digitisation drive, leaving 45.84 per cent of voter details incomplete.
According to official data, the combined voter count for Airoli and Belapur stands at 9,19,697, out of which 4,98,166 records have been digitised so far. In the Airoli constituency, which has 4,97,380 voters, 2,55,948 records (51.46 per cent) have been completed. In Belapur, 2,42,218 out of 4,22,317 voters (57.35 per cent) have been covered under the exercise.
Despite the delay in digitisation, form distribution has reached nearly the entire electorate. Enumeration forms have been distributed to 4,88,052 voters in Airoli (98.12 per cent) and 4,17,372 voters in Belapur (98.83 per cent).
Addressing public concerns, the civic administration stated that voters who cannot trace their own or their parents' names in the 2002 electoral roll need not worry. Such voters only need to fill in their current details in Column 3 of the Enumeration Form, sign it, attach a document specified by the Election Commission, and submit it to their assigned Block Level Officer (BLO).
To assist residents, special weekend SIR camps are being conducted across 179 locations every Saturday and Sunday. Details regarding camp locations and assigned BLOs for each electoral roll part number in the 150-Airoli and 151-Belapur constituencies have been published on the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's (NMMC) social media platforms.
With no extension expected beyond August 17, NMMC Commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde urged corporators to actively reach out to residents. Shinde stated that August 17 should be treated as the final opportunity to complete the SIR process, appealing to corporators to spread awareness in their respective wards and ensure all eligible voters submit their forms to the BLOs.
The revision drive holds significance in Navi Mumbai due to recurring allegations by political parties regarding duplicate and bogus voters registered both locally and in native places. The civic administration is relying on the special weekend camps, ward-level mobilisation, and public cooperation to complete the remaining coverage before the deadline.
