Hyderabad: Election authorities heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday (June 18) after the Election Commission (EC) relaxed its earlier directive that enumeration forms for the upcoming special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls be printed only in Telugu throughout Telangana and gave the go-ahead for English forms solely in Hyderabad district.Telugu forms alone will continue to be distributed in the rest of the state.A top official, on condition of anonymity, told The Wire that the EC has permitted authorities to print the forms in English in addition to Telugu for the enumeration of voters from June 25 in Hyderabad only. Telangana is one of the 16 states and three Union territories where the process is set to begin on the 25th as part of the exercise’s third phase nationally.The EC had earlier mandated the states to print the forms in their respective official languages to ensure that voters not well versed with English or Hindi – the official languages of the Union government – can easily understand what they say.But Telugu, which is Telangana’s first official language, had become a bottleneck for the process in Hyderabad, where demographic data points to a substantial non-Telugu-speaking population.The latest permission applies only to the core Hyderabad region, i.e. the Hyderabad revenue district within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s limits. The rest of the city, which also spans parts of the Medchal-Malkajgiri and Rangareddy districts, will not get the benefit.Party representatives at an all-party meeting convened by election authorities in Hyderabad on Wednesday expressed serious concern at the language barrier that booth-level officers (BLOs) would encounter when they visit the homes of non-Telugu speakers during their door-to-door survey in Hyderabad from June 25. The matter was immediately taken to the notice of the EC, which gave the “go-ahead for English forms”, the official said.Hyderabad, as the sixth-most populated metropolis in the country, is home to a significant mix of diasporas from other states due to the availability of job opportunities in view of the city’s growth as an information technology hub.Alongside, real estate, the health sector, Union government agencies and the robust growth of educational institutions, especially in higher learning, have contributed to a major migration from other states, including the northeast.According to the 2011 census, Telugu speakers represented some 46% of the population in Hyderabad, while Urdu was spoken by 43%. The latter gained strong roots in Hyderabad, particularly in its old city, as it was ruled by the Asaf Jahi and Qutb Shahi dynasties of Muslim heritage for centuries.People from Kannada and Marathi-speaking pockets – in present-day Karnataka and Maharashtra respectively – in the erstwhile Hyderabad state also domiciled in the city, contributing to its cosmopolitan culture.Thousands of jobs in the software industry after the construction of Hitec City were a lure to the skilled younger generation to make the city their home. Thus, Telugu-only forms were bound to hit roadblocks in this context.But if the issue of Telugu as the only medium for printing enumeration forms is resolved now with the EC’s permission, another botheration for BLOs is understanding the various languages in which migrant workers’ information may be entered in the voter rolls produced after the 2002 SIR, against which they will be mapped.Hyderabad MP and All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi had recently submitted a representation to Telangana’s chief electoral officer C. Sudarshan Reddy seeking printing of enumeration forms in English and Urdu.He said that although Telugu is the first language of Telangana, the most commonly used language in the state, especially in Hyderabad, is English. Most government orders and administrative work is carried out in English, he said. “Even those whose first language is Telugu often prefer writing in English rather than Telugu.”Owaisi’s words assumed significance as many young Telugu speakers cannot read or write in their mother tongue as they do not opt for the language in their academics.He also said in his representation that “as Urdu is the second official language of Telangana state, a significant section of the population reads, writes and communicates in Urdu rather than Telugu”. Therefore, the enumeration forms must also be printed in English and Urdu, he argued.“Alternatively, a provision could be made either allowing election returning officers to print the forms in English or Urdu at booths where such languages are needed, or giving electors the opportunity to download the English or Urdu version on their own,” he added.Owaisi also sought that the PAN card, driving licence and food security cards issued by the Union and state governments be treated as valid documents in support of enumeration in lieu of extracts from family registers and the National Register of Citizens, as well as permanent register certificates, which are among 12 listed identity proofs approved by the EC but do not exist in Telangana. The EC has not responded to his representation yet.