Several district administrations in Kerala have started seeking the help of volunteers to speed up the work on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls amid complaints of booth-level officers (BLO) being put under tremendous pressure.
The District Collector, Thiruvananthapuram, has put out an advertisement on social media platforms seeking student volunteers for the technical part of the SIR exercise. Volunteers will need to commit five to six hours over weekends for the work. “We need help for: a) data digitisation, b) technical support, c) office assistance,” reads the ad. The people selected for the work will have flexible hours and will be allotted areas close to their residence or polling station. They will also be issued certificates “based on turnout,” it reads.
The Ernakulam District Collectorate also has published a similar advertisement calling technical volunteers. “Volunteers are needed to assist BLOs with the SIR enumeration forms,” it says.
Most of the district collectorates are reaching out for volunteers for the work, Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Rathan U. Kelkar told The Hindu.
The house-to-house enumeration phase of SIR which kicked off in Kerala on November 4 has been mired in controversy with BLOs, political parties and service organisations complaining that the BLOs are overburdened with work, on account of the operational overlap with the upcoming local body elections in Kerala and pressure to meet unfair deadlines.
On Tuesday, Mr. Kelkar had informed political parties that the criteria for appointing their booth-level agents (BLA) have been eased by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and that they can set up help desks for the support voters by collecting filled enumeration forms. A large section of BLOs had also boycotted SIR work on Monday following the death of a BLO in Kannur district on Sunday, which, service organisations attributed to mental stress arising from the SIR work.
The CEO on Wednesday issued a direction to all BLOs – who are appointed by the ECI – to hold meetings with the BLAs, appointed by political parties, in their jurisdiction “to ensure maximum accuracy and transparency” in the electoral rolls.
Published – November 19, 2025 11:47 am IST
