Odisha Appoints 10 IAS Officers as Electoral Roll Observers for Voter List Revision

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has appointed ten senior IAS officers as Electoral Roll Observers to supervise the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the state ahead of the revision exercise with July 1, 2026 as the qualifying date.

The appointments were notified by Additional Chief Electoral Officer-cum-Special Secretary Sushanta Kumar Mishra under the powers vested in the Election Commission of India under Article 324 of the Constitution. The move is aimed at ensuring transparency and effective monitoring of the electoral roll revision process.

The appointed observers are Rajesh Pravakar Patil, Aravind Agrawal, Balwant Singh, B. Parameswaran, Bijay Ketan Upadhaya, D. Prasantha Kumar Reddy, Sudhansu Mohan Samal, Rashmita Panda, Md. Sadique Alam and Sangram Keshari Mohapatra. The officers represent various departments, including Cooperation, Higher Education, Tourism, ST & SC Development, Industries, MSME, Odia Language, Literature and Culture, and the Revenue Divisional Commissioners’ offices.

According to the CEO’s directions, the observers will undertake three rounds of field visits during the revision exercise. The first visit will coincide with the period for filing claims and objections, the second during the disposal of claims by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and the third during verification of electoral rolls by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), printing of supplementary rolls and publication of the final electoral roll.

The observers have been directed to visit polling stations in Assembly constituencies instead of limiting their inspections to district headquarters. They will also hold meetings with Members of Parliament, MLAs and representatives of recognised political parties to address concerns related to the electoral roll revision and encourage their participation in the process. Members of the public will also be able to submit complaints directly to the observers.

The CEO’s office has further instructed that the observers’ tour schedules and contact details be widely publicised in their respective districts. They have also been asked to closely examine reports from District Election Officers in constituencies where voter additions or deletions exceed prescribed thresholds and submit detailed reports to the Chief Electoral Officer after every field visit.

To familiarise the officers with the revision process, the Chief Electoral Officer has convened a meeting of all Electoral Roll Observers on July 4 at the CEO’s Conference Hall in Bhubaneswar, where they will be briefed on their responsibilities and implementation strategy. The officers have also been directed to share their respective tour programmes with the CEO’s office.