East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Abhilash Baranwal has brushed aside the possibility of Bangladeshi nationals misusing Khasi surnames to get enrolled in the electoral roll during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise.
Addressing the media on Thursday, Baranwal said the SIR is only meant to verify existing voters and not to enrol new electors.
He informed that nearly 95 percent of the enumeration forms have been distributed, while around 45 percent have already been digitised.
The administration is confident of completing the entire exercise before the July 29 deadline.
The Deputy Commissioner said there is no possibility of non-Indian citizens taking advantage of the SIR process, as only those already enrolled in the electoral roll are being verified.
He said that every elector must also establish linkage with the 2005 electoral roll, either in their own name or through their parents.
The Deputy Commissioner was responding directly to accusations that infiltrators in border villages are misusing Khasi surnames to secure voting rights. He claimed the process leaves no room for such manipulation.
“The mechanisms are quite foolproof. Enumeration forms are being issued only to those who were already registered as electors in the existing electoral roll. This is not an exercise to enrol new voters but to validate those who are already on the electoral roll,” Baranwal asserted.