Hyderabad: The SIR exercise has been hit by a language barrier in the Greater Hyderabad, with many non-Telugu-speaking voters refusing to accept Telugu-only enumeration forms and demanding English versions. Many residents said ground-level staff were leaving the forms at RWA offices or with apartment associations, giving voters little opportunity to seek assistance in understanding or filling them out. They argued that printing the forms in both Telugu and English would have made the process easier and avoided confusion.“Why are the SIR forms completely in Telugu? They should have been printed in English too. I don’t understand how someone like me, who doesn’t know the language, is expected to fill them out,” said Shikha Kothari. Another voter, AM Dayal, said printing the form in English on the reverse side would have helped many. “It would have been easier for non-Telugu-speaking people if the form had also been provided in English,” he added.Some pointed out that BLOs were of little help, as many were not well-versed in English and were therefore unable to guide the migrant population. “We were asked to contact the BLO if we had any queries while filling out the form. But the BLOs themselves are unable to communicate properly with us due to the language barrier, leading to further confusion,” said Sadhana Bhosale, a Maharashtrian living in the city. She added that distributing Telugu-only forms would lead to confusion, especially among migrants, as many might end up filling in incorrect information.According to various gated community associations, some residents were refusing to accept the Telugu forms because they could not understand the language. BLOs, meanwhile, said they did not have the time to sit with residents and help them fill out the forms. “We were asked to only distribute and collect forms from voters. Helping them fill out the forms would be time-consuming,” a BLO from Hyderabad said. Officials, however, said that every BLO had been provided with a sample English version of the form to assist non-Telugu-speaking voters.
