Jharsuguda: Sept 16 [UDN}:The Jharsuguda district administration has issued a clarification regarding reports circulating in certain media outlets and on social media alleging that the names of living persons were wrongly marked as deceased and deleted from the electoral roll in Jammal Gram Panchayat under Laikera block.
According to information provided by Laikera AERO-cum-BDO George Dungdung, a total of 51 Form-7 applications seeking deletion of names from the voter list had been submitted from two polling stations. Of these, 32 applications were received from Booth No. 261 at Jammal, while 19 applications were received from Booth No. 262 at Bhuklapada.
The district election authorities clarified that the mere submission of a Form-7 application does not automatically result in deletion of a voter’s name. As per the Election Commission of India’s prescribed procedure, every such application has to undergo proper verification at the field level before any final decision is taken.
Accordingly, the concerned Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conducted house-to-house and field-level verification to establish the actual status of the voters concerned. Following the verification process, 50 of the 51 applications were rejected, as the concerned persons were found to be eligible and their names were retained in the final electoral roll.
The administration further clarified that, among the 51 cases, only one voter from Booth No. 262, Bhuklapada, was actually found to have died. After the death was verified, the process for deletion of that deceased voter’s name was initiated strictly in accordance with the applicable rules.
The clarification comes amid reports suggesting that living voters had been incorrectly shown as dead and removed from the electoral roll. The district administration has categorically stated that such reports do not reflect the actual outcome of the verification process.
Sub-Collector and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for 07-Jharsuguda, Sabyasachi Panda, along with officials of the District Election Office and other senior district-level officers, are closely monitoring the entire matter.
The administration emphasized that the electoral roll revision process is being carried out in a transparent, impartial and rule-based manner, with field verification being conducted before decisions are taken on applications for deletion.
Citizens have also been advised to rely only on official information issued by the district administration and the concerned election authorities for accurate and authenticated information, rather than unverified reports circulating through social media or other informal channels.
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