ECI drops SIR declaration Form 6 in states with completed revision

The Election Commission has withdrawn the additional SIR-related declaration from the online voter enrolment Form 6 in states where the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has been completed, days after the full Commission decided that the requirement would apply only during the exercise. The declaration, which requires new applicants to furnish details linking themselves or their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision, remains available on the ECINET portal in states and Union Territories where the SIR is underway.
In states where SIR has concluded, the additional declaration has now been removed from the ECINET app and portal as well as the respective Chief Electoral Officer portals, leaving applicants seeking enrolment to fill only the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The declaration asks new applicants to furnish details linking themselves, or their parents or grandparents, to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision. It remains available on the ECINET portal in the states and Union Territories where SIR is still on. After the meeting, the Commission stated that the declaration attached to Form 6 was meant for SIR. It added that "for non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used".
Form 6 is the statutory form eligible citizens use to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. It is prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, framed under the Representation of the People Act, 1950. First-time voters use it, as do people who have shifted to a new constituency and seek enrolment there. During SIR, it has also been used by people seeking re-inclusion after their names were deleted from the draft roll.
The Special Intensive Revision is a state-wide exercise in which the Commission re-verifies the electoral roll, with enumeration of existing voters and a claims and objections period. It began with Bihar and has since been extended to other states. The declaration for new applicants was introduced during this exercise. It is largely a replica of the enumeration form given to existing voters.