Land-related cases stuck due to SIR:SDMs, Tehsildars busy with digitization in Bhopal

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bhopal has digitized 60% of voter forms so far, covering 11.88 lakh voters. Among seven assembly constituencies, Berasia leads with 90%, while Bhopal Southwest lags behind. To complete this work, collectors, ADMs, SDMs, and Tehsildars are fully engaged in the field, causing delays in other government work, especially land-related matters like partitioning, boundary marking, and name transfers. Officials say digitization work continues from morning till late night, with staff monitoring and supporting the process. As a result, court hearings by SDMs and Tehsildars have been postponed. Other public services affected City officials like engineers, Patwaris, and revenue inspectors have also been assigned to SIR duties, delaying services such as birth and death certificates. Daily, around 500 public cases related to name transfers, boundary changes, caste certificates, income certificates, and EWS certificates are received. Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars normally handle about 300 cases daily, but most hearings have now been postponed until after December 4. Only urgent cases are being processed. Digitization progress The SIR survey started on November 4, and progress was slow initially. By November 19, Bhopal district was far behind, drawing criticism from the Election Commission. Now, 60% of forms have been digitized, with Berasia 90%, Bhopal North 61.5%, Narela 56%, Bhopal Southwest 48.5%, Bhopal Central 51.6%, Govindpura 50.8%, and Huzur 63% completed. The deadline for completing the SIR survey is December 4. The district administration, led by Collector Kaushalendra Vikram Singh, is monitoring progress every two hours. Steps to speed up work