Amid uncertainties over the proposed special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala, the State government has revoked an order restricting transfer of officials involved in the preparation of voters’ list.
The order was repealed on Saturday (September 27, 2025), two days after it was issued.
The General Administration department had on September 25 ordered the heads of the respective departments to restrict the transfer of District Election Officers, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) until the SIR process was over.
The order had also said that if any official were to be transferred under unavoidable circumstances, the permission of the Election Commission had to be obtained before issuing the transfer order. It was also ordered that the vacancies of EROs and AEROs be filled immediately.
The order issued by Additional Secretary (General Administration) Muhammed Riyas cited a letter from Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rathan U. Kelkar, which stressed the need to restrict transfers and fill in the vacancies in view of the workload related to SIR.
The order now stands cancelled by another order issued by the Additional Secretary. Incidentally, the transfer restriction order was issued even after the CEO recommended to the Election Commission of India on September 21 that the Kerala SIR be put off until after the local body elections. Constituents of the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Opposition United Democratic Front had formally conveyed their objections to the SIR exercise at a State-level meeting convened by the CEO on September 20.
Meanwhile, the State Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution raising concerns over the move to conduct SIR.
Published – September 29, 2025 09:35 pm IST
