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Chennai, Nov 18 (IANS) The Federation of Revenue Department Associations has announced that it will boycott the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, alleging that the exercise has been undertaken without adequate planning, manpower support or financial allocation.
The decision comes as nearly 70,000 revenue department employees, including those deputed as polling station officers, are reporting unprecedented workload and rising mental stress.
In a detailed statement, the federation said the election department has suddenly imposed the task of SIR on revenue staff without proper training, additional staff support or logistics arrangements.
“Officials at all levels are facing intense pressure and mental stress. We have already filed a formal appeal with the Chief Electoral Officer seeking relief, but the situation has worsened,” the federation said.
The unions further alleged that several district collectors were “harassing and threatening” junior officers under the guise of review meetings, leading to resentment among field staff. In protest against this, the federation announced a complete boycott of the SIR process from Tuesday.
The boycott is likely to have a significant impact on the SIR practice, as a large section of the state’s frontline workforce is currently tied to revision fees.
There are more than 54,000 Anganwadi and mini-Anganwadi centers in Tamil Nadu, employing approximately 70,000 staff. According to the federation, about 80 percent of them have been appointed as polling station officials for revision.
The association pointed out that Anganwadi organizers and helpers working in the same centers have also been assigned election duties, seriously impacting essential nutrition services for children.
The federation said its responsibilities under the SIR include distributing amendment forms, collecting completed forms and uploading the data to the computer system. While rules stipulate that employees can be asked to assist in electoral work between 1 pm and 5 pm, officials allege that they are being forced to attend SIR duties from 10 am to 5 pm, thereby disrupting regular departmental responsibilities.
The federation demanded extension of the deadline for completing the amendment and immediate removal of the requirement for revenue staff to upload the filled forms in the system.
Until these issues were resolved, the associations announced a complete boycott of the special vetting process. The statement announced that all unions and officials involved as polling station officials would join the boycott movement.
–IANS
AL/DPB