10 senior IAS officers appointed as Electoral Role Observers

The officers will supervise the special intensive revision of the voter list with 1 July 2026 as the qualifying date.

10 senior IAS officers appointed as Electoral Role Observers: At least 10 senior IAS officers are appointed as Electoral Role Observers in Odisha by the Chief Electoral Officer. The officers will supervise the special intensive revision of the voter list with 1 July 2026 as the qualifying date.

In an official communication issued by Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Sushanta Kumar Mishra, the appointments have been made under the powers conferred upon the Election Commission of India under Article 324 of the Constitution of India. The following observers will be responsible for multiple districts as assigned to each.

1. Rajesh Prabhakar Patil oversees Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Jajpur.
2. Arvind Agrawal handles Baleshwar, Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj.
3. Balwant Singh takes charge of Kalahandi, Balangir and Nuapada.
4. B. Parameshwaran covers Subarnapur, Boudhagada and Kandhamala.
5. Dr Bijay Ketan Upadhyay looks after Deogarh, Sambalpur and Baragada.
6. D. Prasanna Kumar Reddy manages Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada.
7. Sudhanshu Mohan Samal supervises Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Anugola.
8. Rashmita Panda oversees Puri, Khordha, Nayagada and Bhubaneswar.
9. Mohammad Sadiq Alam handles Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri.
10. Sangram Keshari Mahapatra covers Kendujhar, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda.

The observers must visit their assigned districts at least three times during the revision period. They will inspect polling stations across assembly constituencies. They will also hold meetings with MPs, MLAs and representatives of political parties to hear grievances and seek cooperation. The public can directly meet the observers with complaints related to the voter list.

District administrations will widely publicise the observers’ visit schedules and contact numbers. In areas where deletion or addition of names exceeds 1% at the district level or 3% in any assembly constituency, observers will personally scrutinise the reports and reasons.

After field visits and reviews, all observers will submit detailed reports to the Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha. Officials stress that the process must ensure no eligible voter is deleted and no ineligible name is added.

The draft voter list will be published on 5 July 2026. Citizens can file claims and objections from 5 July to 4 August 2026 using Forms 6, 7 and 8.

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