Kerala CM flags 25 lakh voter exclusions in SIR draft, urges Election Commission action
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday expressed concern over media reports stating that 25 lakh people have been excluded from the draft voter list being prepared as part of the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.
In a statement, Vijayan urged the Election Commission to ensure that not a single eligible voter whose name appeared in the voter list during the Special Summary Revision conducted in September 2025 is excluded from the revised list prepared under SIR.
The chief minister alleged that the Election Commission implemented the entire process without adequate transparency. He said that information related to SIR should be made transparent and made available on the website in a manner accessible to political parties and the general public.
His statement came a day after the Election Commission announced the completion of the enumeration phase of the SIR of the electoral roll in Kerala. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer Ratan U Kelkar said that 24.81 lakh voters fall under the "untraceable" category, which includes 6.49 lakh deceased voters, 6.89 lakh untraceable voters, 8.21 lakh shifted voters, 1.34 lakh duplicate entries, and 1.86 lakh under other categories.
Vijayan said the worrying aspect is that, apart from the deceased, those who have permanently migrated, cases of duplicate registration, and persons who could not be traced, a large number of deletions are also being made under the vague category of "others".
The chief minister alleged that even the Election Commission itself lacks clarity on who exactly falls under this category of "others".
"There is little doubt that a voter list riddled with flaws is being prepared. The right to vote should not be cancelled for technical reasons. It is a right that must be guaranteed to every adult citizen in a democratic society. Denying this right is equivalent to destroying the very foundation of democracy," Vijayan said.
Noting that in Kerala the SIR process was previously carried out in 2002, the chief minister said that at that time anyone below the age of 18 (that is, those who are below 40 years of age today) was required to prove their family relationship in order to be included in the voter list.
"As this process was not completed, available information indicates that at present around two lakh people per district remain ineligible to be included in the voter list," he said.
He said the Election Commission itself is responsible for the current situation, as it carried out a voter list revision--an exercise that requires long-term preparation and consultation--with unnecessary haste, and that too at a time when local body elections were taking place.
"The government and representatives of political parties had, even at that time, demanded that this hurried and pressure-driven approach, which rushed and burdened BLOs, be reconsidered. However, the Commission chose to move forward with further actions without accepting these demands," Vijayan said.
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He said the Election Commission should take steps to ensure that every last eligible voter in the state is included in the voter list.
"The state government will take all necessary measures to achieve this," Vijayan said, referring to the case filed by the Kerala Government before the Supreme Court in this regard.
"The Supreme Court itself has taken the shortcomings in the voter list revision seriously and has directed that the concerns raised by the state government be addressed. The Election Commission must review the steps taken so far and avoid unnecessary haste," he said.
Instead of excluding voters from the list by citing technical reasons, the foundation of voter list revision should be to include all eligible citizens while upholding democratic values, the chief minister added.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
