A BLO working near Swargate said that a large number of residents in the list provided to him had no proper address. (File)Standing outside the door of a resident’s house in a housing colony in Bibwewadi, Block Level Officer (BLO) Ashish Padale rings the bell and introduces himself. “I am from the election office. We are working on correction of voter rolls,” he tells the woman answering the door. He pulls out the enumeration form for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).Padale spent the next 20 minutes getting various information like birth date, parental information, and Voter ID details of the three people in the household assigned to him. One of the residents had passed away, informed the lady, but she did not have her death certificate on hand. “Take my phone number and please send it to me later so we can remove her from the voter roll,” says Padale.Padale has to repeat this process for over 950 residents he has been assigned in the area. The Election Commission of India is currently conducting the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls in various states. The door-to-door distribution and collection of forms has to be finished by July 29. Over 8,000 BLOs have been assigned to Pune district for the process.However, the onset of monsoon in Maharashtra, a lack of awareness about the SIR, and incomplete addresses in many cases are proving to be major hurdles in the process. The forms are supposed to be distributed by the BLOs, filled by the residents, and collected back by BLAs or BLOs. However, more than a dozen BLOs The Indian Express spoke to said that they were filling the forms on the spot. All of the BLOs also expressed that finishing the enumeration forms in time seems impossible.“There is not much awareness about the SIR. One couple told me that they would not have let me in the house if I had come alone, lucky I have brought my wife along,” said Padale.Common addressesA BLO working near Swargate said that a large number of residents in the list provided to him had no proper address. “Just a vague area is mentioned along with a house number. Sometimes even the house number is not mentioned and phone numbers are not there. How are we supposed to find people?”A BLO from the Kothrud area in Pune said that she had been assigned over 1100 voters. “I am focusing on the 400 voters covered in the SIR pre-mapping in the first 10 days, so that there is some fruitful result. I have not yet begun working on the unmapped voters or those whose addresses are not complete. However, finishing the whole list by the deadline seems a little impossible.”Story continues below this adAnother BLO from the Kondhwa region said that 80 per cent of the voters in the list provided to him have a common address in the form of an area name. Working as a teacher at a PMC school, he said, “The school timings are from 11 to 5. How are we supposed to finish the work in this kind of situation? It will take a lot of time to find the addresses.”Rural AreasOfficials from rural areas described a similar situation. A BLO from Junnar taluka, who had 796 residents assigned to him, said that people in his area were more aware of the issue. A ZP school teacher, the BLO said, “I will have to either take a half-day from school or work after school. It does not seem possible to finish the forms in 30 days. But we will finish as much as we can.”A BLO from Ambegaon taluka, a gram panchayat employee, said, “People are unaware of the SIR so we really have to explain to them what is happening. It will be difficult to finish my 1400 forms as I am alone in this region and I do not have a vehicle. I am travelling with my husband on his bike. Rain is also playing a spoilsport.”Collector says enough timeDistrict Collector Jitendra Dudi however remained steadfast and said that the process would be completed on time. “We will be able to complete all work on time. We have provided additional staff with the BLOs as well,” he told The Indian Express.Soham Shah is a Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Pune. A journalism graduate with a background in fact-checking, he brings a meticulous and research-oriented approach to his current reporting. Professional Background Role: Correspondent coverig education and city affairs in Pune. Specialization: His primary beat is education, but he also maintains a strong focus on civic issues, public health, human rights, and state politics. Key Strength: Soham focuses on data-driven reporting on school and college education, government reports, and public infrastructure. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) His late 2025 work highlights a transition from education-centric reporting to hard-hitting investigative and human-rights stories: 1. Investigations & Governance "Express Impact: Mother's name now a must to download birth certificate from PMC site" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on a significant policy change by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) following his earlier reports on gender inclusivity in administrative documents. "44-Acre Mahar Land Controversy: In June, Pune official sought land eviction at Pawar son firm behest" (Nov 9, 2025): An investigative piece on real estate irregularities involving high-profile political families. 2. Education & Campus Life Faculty crisis at SPPU hits research, admin work: 62% of govt-sanctioned posts vacant, over 75% in many depts (Sept 12, 2025): An investigative piece on professor vacancies at Savitribai Phule Pune University. "Maharashtra’s controversial third language policy: Why National Curriculum Framework recommends a third language from Class 6" (July 2): This detailed piece unpacks reasons behind why the state's move to introduce a third language from class 1 was controversial. "Decline in number of schools, teachers in Maharashtra but student enrolment up: Report" (Jan 2025): Analyzing discrepancies in the state's education data despite rising student numbers. 3. Human Rights & Social Issues "Aanchal Mamidawar was brave after her family killed her boyfriend" (Dec 17, 2025): A deeply personal and hard-hitting opinion piece/column on the "crime of love" and honor killings in modern India. "'People disrespect the disabled': Meet the man who has become face of racist attacks on Indians" (Nov 29, 2025): A profile of a Pune resident with severe physical deformities who became the target of global online harassment, highlighting issues of disability and cyber-bullying. Signature Style Soham is known for his civil-liberties lens. His reporting frequently champions the rights of the marginalized—whether it's students fighting for campus democracy, victims of regressive social practices, or residents struggling with crumbling urban infrastructure (as seen in his "Breathless Pune" contributions). He is adept at linking hyper-local Pune issues to larger national conversations about law and liberty. X (Twitter): @SohamShah07 ... Read MoreClick here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our storiesTags:pune