Bengaluru, June 30

Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday warned that people who fail to ensure their names are included in the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise could face difficulties in availing government welfare schemes in the future, urging citizens not to ignore the month-long voter verification drive.

As the SIR commenced across Karnataka, Shivakumar appealed to all eligible voters to verify their names in the electoral roll and complete the enumeration process within the prescribed deadline, describing the exercise as crucial to safeguarding democratic rights.

"Your vote is your right to life," he said, asserting that exclusion from the electoral roll could have wider implications beyond voting.

Referring to developments in other states, he claimed that governments were increasingly relying on electoral records while identifying beneficiaries of welfare schemes and warned that those left out of the voters' list could find it difficult to access government assistance in the future.

Shivakumar specifically referred to Karnataka's flagship welfare schemes, including Griha Jyoti, Griha Lakshmi and pension assistance, and urged people not to take the revision process lightly. He said the Karnataka government would extend all necessary assistance to ensure that every eligible citizen remained on the electoral roll.

The Chief Minister said Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would visit households to distribute and collect enumeration forms and appealed to residents to provide accurate personal details along with recent photographs. He also said booth-level help desks and representatives of recognised political parties would be available to assist voters during the exercise.

Stating that Karnataka was under national attention as the revision exercise got underway, Shivakumar urged citizens to protect both their voting rights and democratic participation by cooperating with election officials.
The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls began across Karnataka on Tuesday and will continue till July 29. The Election Commission aims to cover around 5.5 crore electors through the exercise and has deployed nearly 59,050 Booth Level Officers for door-to-door verification and data collection.

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