Issuance of separate caste and residence certificate for SIR has been banned in Jharkhand. More than 2000 certificates have been issued in Sahibganj, which are yet to be verified at the District Election Officer level.
Sahibganj: Caste and residence certificates being prepared separately for intensive revision of voter list i.e. SIR have been banned. Chief Electoral Officer K. After the objection of Ravi Kumar, this process was stopped in Sahibganj. So far, more than 2000 such certificates have been issued in the district, while hundreds of people have also used them in the SIR hearing.
Ban on issuing special certificate for Jharkhand SIR
In Jharkhand, the process of issuing caste and residence certificates specifically for Intensive Revision of Voter List (SIR) has been banned. Chief Electoral Officer K. After Ravi Kumar's displeasure, making such certificates has been stopped in Sahibganj district. So far, more than 2000 such certificates have been issued in different blocks of the district.
Hundreds of people have used it in SIR hearing
Hundreds of these certificates have been used during the SIR hearing. However, verification of these documents is still pending at the level of District Election Officer cum Deputy Commissioner. If any certificate is found invalid during investigation, another valid certificate can be sought from the person concerned.
Case opened during investigation in Barhadwa
Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar had reached Sahibganj on Saturday to investigate complaints related to attempts to become voters on the basis of fake documents. During the investigation, he directed to register an FIR against four voters and the Common Service Center operator who prepared the documents.
During this time, it came to the notice of the officials that caste and residence certificates were being made only for SIR in Barhadwa block. On this, the CEO reprimanded the Circle Officer and termed it wrong to issue such certificates only for the purpose of SIR. He also talked about action against the CO.
After investigation, information also came to light that such certificates have been issued in many other blocks of Sahibganj. SIR is not mentioned on the certificates issued in Barhadwa zone, but it is mentioned in the report of the circle inspector. Whereas in some other blocks including Rajmahal, Udhwa, SIR has been written on the certificate itself. It has been told that the validity of these documents was fixed for three months and they cannot be used for other purposes.
Process increased by ordering offline certificate
Due to work related to SIR and ration card in the state, a large number of applications were received for caste and residence certificate. Considering the time taken in issuing online certificates, the state government had recently given instructions to issue offline certificates.
There was no prescribed format of the certificate along with the order sent to the districts. After this, the zonal officers prepared the drafts at their level and certificates started being issued on the same basis. This process was not limited to Sahibganj only, but was being adopted in other parts of the state also.
After the objection of the CEO, questions have now been raised regarding this process and the certificates issued earlier. In Sahibganj district, 86,942 online applications for caste certificate and 80,417 online applications for residence certificate are still pending. Apart from this, thousands of offline applications have also been received. In case the certificate is not issued on time, during the SIR process, problems may increase for the concerned applicants regarding their name in the voter list.