Sarsana villagers boycott electoral roll revision, seek return to Hisar district

Residents of Sarsana village in Hansi district of Haryana have boycotted the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, refusing to submit enumeration forms in support of their long-pending demand that the village be shifted back to Barwala tehsil and subdivision of Hisar district.

According to villagers, the decision was taken unanimously when the revision exercise began on June 15. They maintain that they will participate in the process only after the government accepts their demand to restore the village to its earlier administrative jurisdiction.

Satbir Singh, husband of village sarpanch Anita, said the decision reflected the collective will of the residents.

“The villagers held a meeting to take a unanimous decision. I was also called to the meeting and was conveyed the decision by the villagers,” Singh told The Tribune.

He said the residents had earlier boycotted voting in the Assembly elections as well to protest the transfer of the village from Barwala tehsil to Kheri Jalab tehsil under Hansi district.

Officials from the district administration, including Narnaund Sub-Divisional Magistrate Vikas Yadav, the Additional Deputy Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner, visited the village on several occasions to persuade residents to participate in the electoral roll revision. However, the villagers reiterated that they would not cooperate until their demand was addressed.

Singh said the village continued to depend on Barwala for several essential services. “We are linked to Barwala for many administrative works, including the Power Department, police station and other offices. But for revenue-related work we have to visit Kheri Jalab and then travel to Hansi district,” he said.

An administrative official said repeated efforts had been made to convince the villagers to submit the enumeration forms, describing the revision of electoral rolls as an important exercise.

“Now, the village has been left out of the process,” the official said.

The official added that the demand to shift Sarsana from Kheri Jalab tehsil to Barwala tehsil and from Hansi district to Hisar district could not be considered immediately.

With the Special Intensive Revision currently underway and the Census and subsequent delimitation exercise yet to be completed, any proposal involving the transfer of villages between tehsils or districts is likely to be examined only after those processes are over, the official said.

Villagers said Hisar Deputy Commissioner Mahender Pal also visited the village on July 24, the last day for publication of the draft electoral roll, but residents again declined to submit the forms, reiterating that they would do so only after their demand was accepted.

The Deputy Commissioner did not respond to calls seeking his comments.