Jharkhand 'Chunav Pathshala' at all polling booths on July 14 for voter roll check
Synopsis
Jharkhand is deploying every polling booth as a public classroom on 14 July — BLOs will read out names of absent, shifted, dead, and duplicate voters aloud, turning electoral roll revision into a community-level transparency exercise. It is one of the more visible ground-level steps in the state's Special Intensive Revision drive.
Key Takeaways
Jharkhand will hold 'Chunav Pathshalas' at all polling stations on 14 July under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will publicly read out voter lists flagged under the ASDD category — Absent, Shifted, Dead, and Duplicate.
Chief Electoral Officer K.
Ravi Kumar announced the initiative during a video-conference review meeting on 10 July .
Joint meetings of BLOs and BLA-2 representatives will also be held in all districts on 14 July .
Under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 , foreign nationals filing false enumeration forms face an FIR .
Voters can access help through BLOs, volunteers, or AI-based video tutorials from the CEO's office.
Jharkhand will hold 'Chunav Pathshalas' at every polling station across the state on 14 July as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, aiming to make voter verification more transparent and participatory. The initiative was announced by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K. Ravi Kumar during a review meeting with district officials on Friday, 10 July.
What Happens at the Chunav Pathshala
During these booth-level sessions, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will publicly read out the names of voters flagged under the ASDD category — covering those who are Absent, Shifted, Dead, or Duplicate (registered at more than one location). This public reading is designed to allow community members and political party representatives to verify and flag discrepancies in the electoral rolls on the spot.
Alongside the Chunav Pathshala programme, joint meetings of BLOs and BLA-2 representatives will also be held across all districts on the same date, according to the CEO's directions.
Review Meeting and Official Directions
The review meeting, conducted via video conferencing, was attended by District Election Officers, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), Deputy Election Officers, computer operators, and BLO supervisors. K. Ravi Kumar directed officials to speed up the digitisation of voter forms in areas where progress has been lagging, including by organising special camps to meet the exercise's stipulated timeline.
He also urged voters to fill out enumeration forms correctly and return them to BLOs at the earliest opportunity. Officials were instructed to ensure that all voter details are updated accurately and that the entire process is conducted in a transparent, error-free manner.
Legal Warning on False Information
The CEO issued a pointed reminder on the legal framework governing the exercise. Under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, any foreign national who furnishes false information or unlawfully fills out an enumeration form commits a punishable offence. In such cases, the concerned ERO will be required to register an FIR. The clarification underscores the Centre's emphasis on keeping electoral rolls free from ineligible entries.
Support for Voters
Voters who face difficulty filling out the forms can seek help from BLOs, trained volunteers, or AI-based video tutorials released by the Chief Electoral Officer's office. The multi-channel support system reflects an effort to reduce form errors that can delay or complicate the revision process.
This comes amid a broader national push to clean up voter rolls ahead of future elections, with states across India conducting similar intensive revision exercises. The 14 July Chunav Pathshala will serve as a key public-facing milestone for Jharkhand's SIR drive.
Point of View
But its effectiveness will hinge entirely on turnout and political party engagement on the day. Jharkhand's voter rolls have historically carried a non-trivial burden of ghost and duplicate entries, and the SIR exercise is as much a political exercise as an administrative one. The legal reminder about Section 31 and FIRs for foreign nationals signals that the revision is not purely clerical — it carries a pointed subtext in a state where demographic and border-district voter-roll disputes have surfaced periodically. Whether the 14 July exercise produces actionable deletions or remains a procedural formality will depend on how robustly district machinery follows through after the Pathshala.
NationPress
10 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chunav Pathshala in Jharkhand?
Chunav Pathshala is a booth-level public session where Booth Level Officers (BLOs) read out the names of voters flagged under the ASDD category — Absent, Shifted, Dead, and Duplicate — to allow community verification of electoral rolls. Jharkhand is holding these sessions at all polling stations on 14 July as part of its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
What is the ASDD category in electoral rolls?
ASDD stands for Absent, Shifted, Dead, and Duplicate — four categories of voters whose entries in the electoral roll require verification or deletion. Voters marked under ASDD are those who may no longer be valid registrants at their listed polling booth.
Who announced the Chunav Pathshala initiative in Jharkhand?
Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar announced the initiative during a video-conference review meeting with district officials on 10 July. He also directed officials to accelerate voter form digitisation and hold joint BLO and BLA-2 meetings on 14 July.
What are the legal consequences for foreign nationals filling voter forms in Jharkhand?
Under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, any foreign national who furnishes false information or unlawfully fills out an enumeration form commits a punishable offence. The concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) is required to register an FIR in such cases.
How can voters get help filling out enumeration forms?
Voters who face difficulty can seek assistance from their local BLO, trained volunteers, or AI-based video tutorials released by the Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer's office. The CEO has directed officials to ensure the process is conducted accurately and without errors.
