The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Haryana and Punjab led to an unexpected and emotional reunion of two brothers who had been separated for nearly 35 years in Manoharpur village of Jind district.The reunion took place at Government Senior Secondary School in Manoharpur when Sita Ram, who works and lives in Amritsar district of Punjab, arrived at the school to collect his School Leaving Certificate (SLC). The certificate was required to be submitted to the authorities in Punjab for SIR of electoral rolls. Sita Ram said he had studied at the school up to Class 10 but had not passed the examination.Ramesh Kumar, Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO), said the Booth Level Officer (BLO), who is also a teacher at the school, asked Sita Ram for details, including the name of his ancestral village and his family members. Sita Ram said he belonged to Manoharpur village and mentioned his brother’s name as Dalbir Singh.Coincidentally, the BLO, who is a local resident, knew Dalbir Singh personally and also had his mobile number. He contacted Dalbir over the phone to verify Sita Ram’s identity. To his surprise, Dalbir immediately recognised Sita Ram as his long-lost brother and said that the family had been searching for him for the past 35 years. He rushed to the school to meet him.According to Kumar, Sita Ram had been taken to Punjab for polio treatment when he was an adolescent. He was left at a massage centre in Punjab in the hope that his condition would improve. However, when a family member went there after some time to bring him back, the centre’s in-charge said that Sita Ram had left the centre several days earlier.The family searched for him for a long time but could not trace him.Sita Ram told officials that he had been living in a village in Amritsar district and earning a living as a daily-wage worker. He said he visited his ancestral village after learning that he needed his documents for verification during SIR. He therefore came to the school to obtain his SLC.The AERO said Sita Ram’s SLC was issued immediately, after which he left for Amritsar.