SIR in J&K not likely before Feb, 2027

Jammu, May 14: Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to be conducted only after February 2027, when the census phase II will culminate in the Union Territory.

Indication has been given by the Election Commission of India (ECI) while notifying the schedule for the conduct of the SIR phase III, covering 16 States and 3 Union Territories (UTs).

ECI has specified that the SIR schedule for J&K, its twin UT Ladakh and the state of Himachal Pradesh will be announced after considering the completion of phase II of the census and weather in their upper reaches and snowbound areas.

J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjeev Verma, when contacted by Greater Kashmir on this account, however, came up with a cautious, precise reply.

“Today the ECI has announced the phase III schedule. J&K, along with Ladakh and HP, will be taken in the next phase (of SIR) following the completion of the census exercise. We’ll notify the dates (of SIR) as and when the schedule will be announced (by the ECI),” Verma said.

With the schedule unveiled on Thursday, May 14, 2026 by the ECI, the SIR of electoral rolls will cover the entire country in phase-III, except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

“After considering the completion of phase-II of the census in these three State and UTs and due consideration of the weather in the upper reaches and snow bound areas, SIR schedule for these three State and UTs will be announced later,” ECI has stated.

CENSUS PROCESS IN J&K BEGINS ON MAY 17

In J&K, the process of census 2027, to be completed in 2 phases, will begin from May 17, 2026.

The first phase will cover the House Listing and Housing Census (HLO). It will consist of a Self Enumeration period from May 17 to May 31 and House to House Field Work from June 1 to June 30, 2026.

The second phase will focus on Population Enumeration (PE) (including caste census), which will commence in September 2026 for snow-bound areas and in February 2027 for the non-snowbound regions.

Thus, in J&K, the phase II of the census will culminate in February, 2027.

Census 2027 summit will be a fully digital and paperless exercise – a paradigm shift towards a technology-first, citizen-centric framework, leading to evidence-based policy planning as a core for developed India.

SIR DELAY MAY NOT IMPACT EXERCISE UNDERWAY FOR PANCHAYAT POLLS; SEC MAY TAKE CALL 

Official sources have maintained that it (delayed SIR exercise in J&K) may not impact ongoing exercise related to Panchayat polls in J&K.

The State Election Commission may decide on its own (whether to wait for SIR for conduct of polls or not).

“This (Panchayat poll exercise) is an independent process. There is no definitive correlation between the two (SIR and Panchayat Polls) as their (SEC’s) revised lists are already ready. It (SIR) could have helped them in cross checking, re-verification. So, the SEC independently can decide on it – whether to wait for SIR or not,” sources pointed out.      

The process of updation of electoral rolls of Panchayat polls has almost been completed with the revised lists recording a 3 percent increase in the number of electorates. Final electoral rolls will be published by the State Election Commission (SEC) on May 20.

SEC, as per reports, has written to the J&K government for its decision on the recommendations of the OBC Commission, which is long awaited. The conduct of elections to Panchayat and ULBs will take place only after a decision on OBC reservation is taken by the government.     

Earlier ECI, while directing the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in 16 States and 3 Union Territories (UTs) (other than J&K, Ladakh and HP), has pointed out that the schedule of SIR Phase-III has been fixed keeping in view the common field machinery with the ongoing house listing of Census.

During SIR phase-III, over 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will go house-to-house to 36.73 Cr electors assisted by 3.42 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties during the enumeration phase.

Asserting that SIR is a participative exercise involving all stakeholders including electors, political parties and election officials, ECI has requested all political parties to appoint BLAs for each Polling Booth, in order to ensure full participation of political parties so that SIR is conducted with complete transparency and full participation of political parties.

In the first two phases of the SIR in 13 States and UTs covering nearly 59 Cr electors as on the date of order of SIR in the respective States and UTs, over 6.3 lakh BLOs and 9.2 lakh BLAs appointed by political parties were involved in various stages of the (SIR) process.