New Delhi [India], October 23 (ANI): Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday directed the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to finalise their preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter lists in their respective States and Union Territories, a press release by the ECI said.

The ECI's two-day Conference of CEOs on SIR preparedness concluded at the India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi.

According to the press release, the Commission assessed the progress made on the directions previously issued to the CEOs to map the current electors with the electors as per the last SIR in their respective States and UTs.

The ECI also interacted one-on-one with the CEOs of poll-bound States and UTs, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal.

Queries raised by the CEOs were also clarified after the presentations by senior officers of the Commission on the SIR process.

The conference was presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in the presence of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, the press release said.

CEOs of the States and UTs from across the country attended the Conference.

The Conference was a follow-up to the SIR preparedness conference held on September 10, during which all the States and UTs gave detailed presentations on the number of Electors, qualifying date of last SIR and Electoral Roll in their respective State and UT as per the last completed SIR, the press release said.

This comes in the backdrop of CEC Gyanesh Kumar's announcement for a nationwide SIR, after an SIR of the electoral roll in the poll-bound Bihar.

In Bihar, the total number of electors in the final list stands at 7.42 crore, while there were 7.89 crore electors as of June 24 this year. A total of 65 lakh voters were removed from the draft list. In addition, 3.66 lakh ineligible electors were removed from the final list while 21.53 lakh eligible electors were added via Form 6, taking the total to 7.42 crore voters. (ANI)