SIR Deadlines Extended After Protests And Many Deaths
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended key deadlines for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 12 states and Union Territories, pushing back the entire timetable by a week after mounting protests and public outcry over the pressure on field staff. The final electoral roll will now be published on February 14, 2026, instead of earlier in the month, giving officials and citizens additional time to complete the exercise.
According to the revised schedule, the Enumeration Period, during which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) carry out house-to-house visits and collect forms, will now run until December 11, 2025. Rationalisation and re-arrangement of polling stations must also be completed by December 11, 2025, aligning with the extended enumeration window.
The Election Commission has moved the publication of the draft electoral roll to December 16, 2025, a week later than originally planned. This will be followed by a period for filing claims and objections from December 16, 2025 to January 15, 2026, giving voters additional time to correct or challenge entries.
The notice phase, covering issuance of notices, hearings and verification, will now run concurrently from December 16, 2025 to February 7, 2026. Checking the “health parameters” of the electoral rolls and securing the Commission’s final approval must be completed by 10 February 2026, paving the way for final publication on February 14, 2026.
The decision to extend deadlines comes amid growing concern over the human cost of the SIR push, which has already claimed at least 23 lives among field staff, according to a Timeline analysis. These include 19 Booth Level Officers, two BLO assistants and two SIR supervisors who reportedly died due to stress-induced collapses, suicides or medical emergencies while on duty.
The state-wise picture is stark: Madhya Pradesh has recorded seven deaths, Gujarat five and Uttar Pradesh four, while West Bengal has seen three casualties. Rajasthan has reported two deaths, and Tamil Nadu and Kerala one each, highlighting how the strain of the campaign has cut across regions. Field staff say they are being asked to mine electoral records going back to 2002–03, conduct door-to-door verification and upload data into an app that frequently crashes, all under stringent daily targets and the original 4 December deadline.
Behind the statistics lie searing personal stories. In West Bengal, teacher and BLO Rinku Tarafdar was found hanging, leaving behind a note saying she could no longer bear the “human work pressure” and that her conscience was exhausted. In Rajasthan, Mukesh Jangid died after jumping in front of a train, while in Gujarat a BLO who had requested exemption on medical grounds reportedly died of a heart attack after being kept on duty.
On the ground, many teachers say they have been threatened with suspension if they fail to meet daily quotas of forms and verifications. Some, like Noida-based teacher Pinky Singh, have resigned from BLO duties, saying they can neither teach properly nor carry out the mounting SIR workload. Protests have erupted in several states, with demonstrations in Kerala turning violent as teacher unions and government employees demand relief, safety protocols and realistic timelines.
The deaths and complaints have triggered a fierce political confrontation. Opposition parties have branded the deaths “institutional murders”, arguing that the SIR is being run in a way that dehumanises the very workers who sustain India’s electoral machinery. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has described the exercise as a “calculated ploy” and “imposed tyranny”, alleging that ordinary citizens are being harassed while BLOs are treated as expendable. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has warned that the pressure and procedural hurdles could end up disenfranchising genuine voters.
The ruling BJP has countered by accusing the Opposition of politicising tragedies and obstructing an exercise it says is essential to clean up voter lists. Party leaders argue that a robust revision is necessary to weed out bogus entries and ensure free and fair elections, and that administrative safeguards are in place to manage workloads. The ECI itself has publicly questioned whether all the reported deaths are directly linked to work pressure, with some state officials describing cases as natural medical events.
Under mounting scrutiny, the Commission has pointed to recent measures aimed at easing the burden on frontline staff. It has capped the workload at about 1,000 voters per BLO in many jurisdictions and doubled their annual remuneration from ₹6,000 to Rs 12,000, while also increasing incentives for supervisors and other electoral officials. Officials say these moves, together with the newly extended SIR timetable, demonstrate a commitment to both accurate rolls and staff welfare.
