Gurgaon: The ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has hit a language barrier in Gurgaon, with residents from non-Hindi-speaking states struggling to fill verification forms distributed only in Hindi — a friction point in a city with a large migrant and multilingual population.Officials say the Hindi form is standard across Haryana, consistent with Election Commission of India guidelines requiring forms in the regional language so they reach the widest population. Whether bilingual forms are permissible under ECI rules remains unclear.Officials add that the form requires only basic details — name, parents’ name, Aadhaar number and EPIC number — with no supporting documents needed at this stage.Residents have questioned why access to a form in their preferred language should require a workaround at all.Prashant Benjamin, originally from Karnataka and a registered voter in the city for nearly a decade, said Hindi remains an uncomfortable language for him and his family. “We manage to communicate but cannot read Hindi. The SIR form given to us is difficult to understand,” Benjamin said.Suman Sangama from Meghalaya, a registered voter for seven years, said the fix was straightforward. “The govt should have given a bilingual form in Hindi and English,” Sangama said.The difficulty is not limited to those unfamiliar with Hindi entirely. “I can read basic Hindi but am not confident enough to fill an official govt document without making mistakes. An English version would have made the process much easier,” said Vivek Sharma, a resident of DLF Phase-3.A resident of a condominium on Golf Course Extension Road said senior citizens and working professionals from southern and northeastern states were finding it particularly hard. “Most of us have no issue providing the required information, but understanding every column is the real challenge,” this person said.Officials maintain that the affected population is small and that adequate support exists. For those unable to read Hindi, the form is available in English at voters.eci.gov.in.Badshapur SDM Sanjeev Singla, who received feedback on this during a field inspection, urged residents to use the online route. “For a demography like Gurgaon, where people are very tech-savvy, it will be convenient to fill the form online — it will not take more than a minute,” he said. He also appealed to RWAs to help residents with the forms. “The participation of RWAs is crucial in reaching every eligible voter and ensuring that forms are filled correctly and submitted on time.”The language barrier has increased the workload of booth-level officers, many of whom now spend additional time walking residents through each field before collecting completed forms. “It takes more time, but we are ensuring that no eligible voter is left out because of the language issue,” said a BLO associated with the exercise.RWAs said they have stepped in to bridge the gap, organising help desks and awareness sessions. “Our volunteers are helping residents understand the requirements and coordinating with BLOs whenever clarification is needed,” said an office-bearer of an RWA on Golf Course Road.
