EC Appoints 10 IAS Officers as Observers for Odisha's Electoral Roll Revision
The Election Commission has named 10 senior IAS officers of the Odisha cadre as Electoral Roll Observers to oversee the state's SIR process.
The Election Commission of India has named 10 senior IAS officers of the Odisha cadre as Electoral Roll Observers. Their job is to oversee the Special Intensive Revision process across the state's districts. The order, issued this week, lists district-wise assignments for each of the ten.
The Special Intensive Revision verifies and updates electoral rolls — an exercise that has drawn sharp political attention this year over concerns about wrongful voter deletions and inclusion errors, raised by opposition parties in several states. Observers monitor how Booth Level Officers and Electoral Registration Officers actually conduct the revision on the ground, and report directly to the Commission — a reporting line separate from the state's regular administrative chain.
The batch spans 2005 to 2012, and includes officers currently serving as departmental secretaries and one public sector managing director — a deliberate choice, drawing observers already familiar with district administration in the state rather than bringing in outsiders.
Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, 2005 batch, Commissioner-cum-Secretary in the Cooperation Department, gets Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Jajpur. Aravind Agrawal, 2007 batch, from Higher Education, gets Balasore, Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj. Balwant Singh, also 2007 batch, from Tourism, gets Kalahandi, Balangir and Nuapada.
B. Parameswaran, 2008 batch, heading ST and SC Development, gets Subarnapur, Boudh and Kandhamal. Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya, 2009 batch, Secretary for Odia Language, Literature and Culture, gets Deogarh, Sambalpur and Bargarh. D. Prasanna Kumar Reddy, also 2009 batch, gets Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada.
Sudhanshu Mohan Samal, 2010 batch, Managing Director of the Odisha Mining Corporation, gets Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Angul. Rashmita Panda, also 2010 batch, gets Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh and Bhubaneswar. Mohammed Sadique Alam, also 2010 batch, gets Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri. Sangram Keshari Mahapatra, 2012 batch, Revenue Divisional Commissioner for the Southern Division, rounds out the list with Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda.
All ten will monitor the revision in their assigned districts for the duration of the exercise, reporting directly to the Election Commission.
