New Delhi, May 14 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday announced the launch of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in a phased manner across 16 States and three Union Territories. It said this is going to be a major nationwide exercise aimed at strengthening the accuracy and transparency of voter lists.

According to the Commission, the Phase-III schedule of the SIR has been finalised while keeping in view the availability of the common field machinery currently engaged in the ongoing census house-listing operations.

With the commencement of Phase III, the SIR exercise will effectively cover the entire country, except for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The Commission said the schedule for these three regions will be announced at a later stage after taking into account the completion of Phase-II of the census exercise, as well as weather-related challenges in upper reaches and snow-bound areas.

As part of the large-scale revision drive, more than 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct door-to-door verification of approximately 36.73 crore electors during the Enumeration Phase. The BLOs will be assisted by around 3.42 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) nominated by various political parties.

The ECI described the SIR as a â??participative and transparent exerciseâ?? involving electors, political parties, and election officials at multiple levels.

Stressing the importance of political participation, the Commission urged all recognised political parties to appoint Booth Level Agents for every polling booth to ensure transparency, inclusiveness, and effective scrutiny during the revision process.

â??I appeal to all electors to enthusiastically participate in Phase III of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and fill their Enumeration Forms. SIR is being conducted with the objective to ensure that - Only Eligible voters to be included in the Electoral Roll and No Ineligible names to be included,â?? said CEC Gyanesh Kumar on the launch of SIR Phase III in 16 States and 3 UTs.

The Commission further said that the first two phases of the SIR exercise, conducted across 13 States and Union Territories, covered nearly 59 crore electors as on the date of issuance of the respective SIR orders.

More than 6.3 lakh BLOs and 9.2 lakh BLAs were engaged in various stages of the process during these phases, it said.

Officials said the intensive revision exercise is aimed at ensuring error-free electoral rolls by identifying duplicate, shifted, deceased, or ineligible entries while facilitating the inclusion of all eligible voters.

/IANS