Archive · 7 Sep 2026
SIR Verification Reunites Haryana Brothers After 35 Years Apart
Sita Ram had been away from his family for about 35 years.
He went to his old school in Haryana to get an important certificate.
He needed the certificate for checking voter records in Punjab.
An election worker asked Ram about his village and family.
The worker recognized the name of Ram’s brother, Dalbir, and called him.
Dalbir had been looking for Ram and thought he might be dead.
He quickly came to the school, and the brothers hugged and cried when they saw each other.
Ram said he had left a treatment centre because he did not want his family to face extra costs.
The voter-record check unexpectedly helped the family find one another again.
Sita Ram, 55, returned to Manoharpur, Haryana, to obtain his School Leaving Certificate for SIR verification in Punjab.
Booth Level Officer Krishan Kumar learned that Ram’s brother was Dalbir, also spelled Balbir, and contacted him by phone.
Dalbir, 60, rushed to the school, where the brothers embraced and cried after nearly 35 years apart.
Ram’s family had searched for him and eventually presumed him dead after he left a polio treatment centre in Sangrur.
Ram said he left because he did not want to burden his family and later worked in Punjab before securing a stable job.
- Who
- Sita Ram, 55, and his brother Dalbir, 60, were reunited with help from electoral officials.
- What
- The brothers reunited after nearly 35 years when Ram sought his School Leaving Certificate.
- When
- The reunion occurred on Wednesday; the report was dated September 6.
- Where
- Government Senior Secondary School in Manoharpur village, Jind district, Haryana.
- Why
- Ram needed the certificate for Special Intensive Revision verification of electoral rolls in Punjab, which led officials to identify his family.
SIR Critics
SIR Supporters
Impact of the voter-verification exercise
SIR Critics
The SIR exercise has been heavily criticised by opposition parties, according to the report.
SIR Supporters
Supporters can point to this case as an example of the routine verification process helping reconnect a separated family.
- Person reunited
- Sita Ram, a 55-year-old resident of Amritsar
- Brother
- Dalbir, also reported as Balbir, 60
- Separation
- Nearly 35 years
- Certificate
- School Leaving Certificate, required for SIR verification
- Verification exercise
- Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Punjab
- Treatment centre
- A polio treatment centre in Sangrur, Punjab
- Family belief
- Ram’s family eventually presumed he had died after failing to find him
