SIR: Progeny mapping starts in Hyderabad, BLOs lack clarity on rules

Hyderabad: Ahead of the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in Telangana, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) began linking and progeny mapping in Hyderabad.

Recently, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the SIR in the states that were not covered in phase I and II will be rolled out soon.

Hyderabad BLOs role in progeny mapping for SIR

In view of the upcoming mammoth exercise in Telangana, BLOs are performing linking or progeny mapping to link or map the names of voters with the 2002 SIR list.

For those voters whose names are in the 2002 SIR list, linking is done. On the other hand, those who are not in the list will need to link with their relatives whose names are there in the 2002 list.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) allowed mapping with

1. Father
2. Mother
3. Maternal grandfather
4. Maternal grandmother
5. Paternal grandfather
6. Paternal grandmother

However, BLOs are not clear about the rules.

When contacted, a few BLOs in Hyderabad claimed that they are mapping with father, mother and paternal grandfather only. Other relatives are not considered for SIR, they alleged.

It is not only the case in Hyderabad. In some places where phase II of SIR is going on, such incidents were reported on social media.

A person on Reddit wrote, “Me and my sister used the name of our maternal grandmother, who was in the 2002 SIR. We didn’t get any call for hearing, but my father got one (used his maternal grandfather’s name, because BLO couldn’t do the mapping).”

ECI stand on SIR progeny mapping different from BLOs in Hyderabad

In the SIR training material used in West Bengal, it is mentioned, “Elector, if not in the last SIR, details of Father, Mother, GF, GM or other relatives on the right side to enter.”

The SIR enumeration form online filling SOP asked electors to select either of the following options:

1. My name exists in the Electoral Roll of the last SIR
2. My parents’ names (Father, Mother, Grandfather, Grandmother) exist in the electoral roll of the last SIR
3. Neither my name nor my parents’ names exist in the electoral roll

These two notifications clearly listed both grandparents, namely grandfather and grandmother.

It is to be noted that grandparents include both maternal and paternal, and the same was clarified by Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa.

In multiple interviews, he made it clear that grandparents include both maternal and paternal, which made it clear for BLOs too, and there was no case of denial to link to maternal and paternal grandparents in Uttar Pradesh.

In other states, including West Bengal, details of both maternal and paternal grandparents were allowed to be used for the purpose of mapping during the SIR.

Even in the BLO app, there is an option to link a person in the 2002 list to son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, and transgender. Here, grandson means “the son of one’s son or daughter” and granddaughter means “the daughter of one’s son or daughter,” thereby clearly allowing linking with both maternal and paternal grandparents.

Telangana CEO reviews SIR preparedness

On Sunday, February 1, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Telangana, held a video conference with District Election Officers (DEOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) of the concerned districts to review preparedness for the SIR and Form pendency.

The meeting was attended by the Additional CEO, Dy CEO, nodal officers and other officials.

In view of the upcoming SIR exercise, it is essential that BLOs have clarity about the rules, as progeny mapping will not only reduce the burden of EROs and AEROs, it will also avoid unnecessary notices to voters in Hyderabad and other districts of the state at a later stage.

Documents needed during SIR

If the voter is either linked or mapped successfully, no documents are needed. However, those who remain unlinked and unmapped will receive notice at a later stage of the SIR.

In such cases, the individual needs to submit one of the following 11 documents:

• Any identity card/Pension Payment Order issued to a regular employee/pensioner of any Central Govt./State Govt./PSU.
• Any identity card/certificate/document issued in India by government/local authorities/banks/post office/LIC/PSUs prior to 01.07.1987.
• Birth certificate issued by the competent authority.
• Passport.
• Matriculation/Educational certificate issued by recognised boards/universities.
• Permanent residence certificate issued by a competent state authority.
• Forest Rights Certificate.
• OBC/SC/ST or any caste certificate issued by the competent authority.
• National Register of Citizens (wherever it exists).
• Family register prepared by state/local authorities.
• Any land/house allotment certificate issued by the government.
• For Aadhaar, the Commission’s directions issued via letter No. 23/2025-ERS/Vol.II dated 09.09.2025 shall apply.
• Extract of the Electoral Roll of Bihar SIR with reference to 01.07.2025.

However, the required documents for SIR will be based on the date of birth for all voters in Hyderabad and other Telangana districts. Those who were born before July 1, 1987, need to submit any of the listed documents for themselves.

On the other hand, those who were born on or after July 1, 1987, and on or before December 2, 2004, need to provide a document for themselves and a document of their father or mother.

Those who were born after December 2, 2004, need to submit a document of themselves and both parents.