Hyderabad, Aug 1 (HS): Election authorities have identified 48.3 lakh electors, accounting for 14.2 per cent of Telangana's electorate, for deletion from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, officials said.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C. Sudharshan Reddy said the identified electors fall under recognised categories for deletion, including those who have shifted residence, died, could not be traced or were found to be duplicate entries.

According to the Election Commission, of the 48.3 lakh electors identified, 28.7 lakh had permanently shifted from their registered addresses, 8.6 lakh were reported dead, about 4.8 lakh were found absent or untraceable and around 5.8 lakh were identified as duplicate entries or enrolled elsewhere.

The CEO said the deadline for the SIR exercise has been extended from August 3 to August 10 to facilitate completion of the process.

Officials said enumeration forms have been distributed to all 3.38 crore registered electors in the state. So far, around 2.6 crore forms, covering nearly 77 per cent of the electorate, have been digitised and verified, while about 29.5 lakh forms are yet to be digitised.

The CEO clarified that anomalies detected in successfully collected forms would not result in immediate deletion. Notices would be issued to the concerned electors before any further action is taken.

Hyderabad, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Rangareddy districts together account for the highest number of uncollected enumeration forms. Officials attributed the large numbers to factors such as migration, shifting of residence, tenant mobility, locked houses and restricted access to gated communities.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar