SRINAGAR: As the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered the 2nd Special Summary Revision (SSR) of Electoral Rolls-2024 w.r.t. 01-07-2024 as the qualifying date in Jammu and Kashmir, a review meeting of District Election Authority was held under the Chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr. Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat, who is also District Election Officer(DEO) here today in the Meeting Hall of the DC Office Complex.
Additional Deputy Commissioner, Syed Ahmad Kataria, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Khalid Hussain Malik, Deputy District Election Officer, Mir Imtiyaz ul Aziz and other Electoral Registration Officers(EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers(AEROs), besides representatives of various Political Parties attended the meeting to deliberate about the forthcoming 2nd SSR-2024 and necessary pre-revision activities, H2H Survey, rationalization of Polling Stations, change of Polling Stations including addition, deletion, correction and removal of discrepancies in the Electoral Rolls in the upcoming 2nd SSR-2024.
At the outset, a detailed deliberation was held on various aspects of the SSR, including its provisions and parameters, as well as the progress achieved in the district so far. Also in depth discussion was held regarding the change of 57 Polling Station Locations housing 98 polling stations of all eight Assembly Segments of District Srinagar. The detailed list of change of locations comprising appropriate recommendations from the EROs concerned was shared with all the participating representatives of Political parties of Srinagar.
Speaking on the occasion, DC emphasized on carrying out extensive pre-SSR activities particularly rationalization of voters of each polling station, change of buildings of polling stations concerning the availability of amenities, and joint House to House verification by BLOs & equivalent officials of SMC.
District Election Officer emphasized that the prime focus of the District Election machinery is aimed to modify around 40 Temporary Polling Station locations (Tin Sheds) which are required to be constructed after every Election in the District including the recently conducted Lok Sabha Elections-2024.
The DEO stressed on area/section-wise voter enrollment to avoid the division of voters from one household into multiple polling stations. He instructed the removal of discrepancies in voter list, improvement in photo quality by replacing blurred, poor quality and not to specification and non-human images in the roll, wherever necessary and verification of voters of age above 85 years.
During the meeting, deliberations were also held about the rationalisation of polling stations including the creation of auxiliary polling stations. Threadbare discussion was held on the locations identified by the Electoral Registration Officers and the Political Parties.
It was informed that a total of four(4) polling stations having more than 1425 Electors have been proposed to be bifurcated in the District for improved accessibility and convenience of the Electorates of these polling areas.
On the occasion, the Political Parties were given time to submit their suggestions on the proposal submitted by the Electoral Registration Officers.
Various representatives gave their suggestions and comments regarding the change of Polling Stations. The representatives expressed their satisfaction over the proposal prepared by the EROs. Further, they shared that the proposed changes would certainly contribute towards the accessibility and inclusivity of the democratic Electoral process and such a move will help further in enhancing the Electoral Participation.
