Thiruvananthapuram: Amid severe disruption in revenue offices across Kerala, District Collectors have begun steps to deploy staff from other government departments to assist with hearings related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.

As part of the move, lists of officers to be deputed are being collected from the district and office heads of various departments. The action follows a directive issued by the Land Revenue Commissioner on January 16, in the wake of a letter on the matter from the Revenue Minister.

In his communication, the Land Revenue Commissioner pointed out that with the majority of Revenue Department staff already assigned to SIR duties, the functioning of revenue offices, including taluk offices, has come to a standstill. He therefore sought the urgent deployment of personnel from other departments. Manorama reported the issue on Monday.

At the same time, the duty-off granted to Booth Level Officers (BLOs) has been extended till February 21, enabling them to focus fully on SIR-related work.

For the SIR process, the Election Commission of India has already appointed Deputy Collectors as Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Tehsildars and Superintendents as Additional EROs, and Deputy Tahsildars or Junior Superintendents as Assistant EROs. With these officers also deploying their respective clerical staff to support the hearing process, routine services in revenue offices have been completely disrupted.

Meanwhile, the deadline for submitting objections and claims regarding the draft SIR electoral roll published in Kerala has been extended till January 30. This window allows those excluded from the draft roll and others to submit complaints. The hearing process is scheduled to continue until February 14.