SIR: Mosques lead way in filling forms in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid apprehensions over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and lingering doubts that exclusion from the final voters list could create grave trouble in future, several major mosques in the state have opened help desks to assist the public in completing the formalities. Thiruvananthapurams Vallakkadavu mosque - one of the biggest jamaaths in the state comprising about 25,000 members - was the first to take the initiative. It set up a help desk in the first week of November, urging mahal members as well as the public to seek its assistance in filling the enumeration form. Soon, several other committees - notable among them being Balaramapuram town mosque, Chemboor mosque in Thiruvananthapuram, Panavally Thekkum Bhagam mosque in Alappuzha and Badriya Masjid in Chavakkad - followed suit and set up dedicated teams of volunteers to help the public complete the formality. Dr Anvar Nazar, secretary of Vallakkadavu mosque committee, said the initiative was getting a good response and hundreds of people had so far sought their service. According to him, the biggest hurdle for the people was to find their names in the 2002 voters list. Most of them did not know which booth they had polled their votes during that time. Some also had confusion regarding furnishing of the form. For such people, we filled their forms after finding their names in the 2002 voters list, he said.