NEW DELHI: Chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday stepped forward to allay the opposition's fears regarding "disenfranchisement" on account of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the Bihar electoral roll , saying the objective of the exercise is to simply ensure that no eligible voter is left out, while also keeping the roll free of any ineligible voter.
This is in line with the duty cast upon the Election Commission by Article 326 of the Constitution, which requires only an Indian citizen above 18 years of age and ordinary resident in that constituency, unless disqualified, to be enrolled. Kumar told TOI EC is deploying over 1 lakh volunteers to assist the elderly, sick, persons with disabilities (PwDs) and other marginalised groups in filling up their enumeration forms.
In a statement on Monday, EC reiterated that over 4.9 crore electors included in Bihar's electoral roll from 2003 - when the last such intensive revision was conducted - need not submit any document other than their filled-up enumeration form. The 2003 roll will be treated as probative evidence of eligibility, including presumption of Indian citizenship unless any input is received otherwise.
They only need to verify details from the 2003 roll - now uploaded on the EC website and hard copies of which are being provided to booth level officers (BLOs) - and return the filled-up enumeration form to the BLO.
Even children of these 4.9 crore electors will only have to submit their own citizenship proof from a list of 11 specified documents, and not any documents related to the birth of their parents. "This is because any children born to parents included as electors in the 2003 Bihar roll are Indian citizens by birth," said an EC official. "Thus, nearly 60% of Bihar's (current) 7.9 crore electorate, would not have to submit any documents."
Stating that revision of electoral roll is mandatory prior to parliamentary/assembly election or bypoll, EC said it has been conducting annual summary revisions for 75 years. Nine intensive revisions were undertaken between 1952 and 2004, involving an average six-year gap, but the latest was pending for 22 years.
"SIR is required as the electoral roll is dynamic and changes due to deaths, shifting of people due to reasons such as migration due to occupation/ education/ marriage, and addition of new voters who have turned 18 years old," said the officer.
As per Census 2011, there were 454 million migrants in India, up from 315 million in 2001. Even as per the Migration in India Report, 2021, the percentage of migrants in the population was estimated at around 29%, which is more than the winning margin in many of the constituencies.
"SIR will introduce complete transparency in the additions/deletions in the electoral rolls through active participation of booth level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties," the officer said, and added that around 1.5 lakh BLAs, including over 47,000 deployed by RJD alone, will monitor each stage of SIR. Interestingly, even as RJD is opposing SIR, its MLA from Hathua Rajesh Kushwaha has released posters educating electors on how to ensure they are enrolled.
This is in line with the duty cast upon the Election Commission by Article 326 of the Constitution, which requires only an Indian citizen above 18 years of age and ordinary resident in that constituency, unless disqualified, to be enrolled. Kumar told TOI EC is deploying over 1 lakh volunteers to assist the elderly, sick, persons with disabilities (PwDs) and other marginalised groups in filling up their enumeration forms.
In a statement on Monday, EC reiterated that over 4.9 crore electors included in Bihar's electoral roll from 2003 - when the last such intensive revision was conducted - need not submit any document other than their filled-up enumeration form. The 2003 roll will be treated as probative evidence of eligibility, including presumption of Indian citizenship unless any input is received otherwise.
They only need to verify details from the 2003 roll - now uploaded on the EC website and hard copies of which are being provided to booth level officers (BLOs) - and return the filled-up enumeration form to the BLO.
Even children of these 4.9 crore electors will only have to submit their own citizenship proof from a list of 11 specified documents, and not any documents related to the birth of their parents. "This is because any children born to parents included as electors in the 2003 Bihar roll are Indian citizens by birth," said an EC official. "Thus, nearly 60% of Bihar's (current) 7.9 crore electorate, would not have to submit any documents."
Stating that revision of electoral roll is mandatory prior to parliamentary/assembly election or bypoll, EC said it has been conducting annual summary revisions for 75 years. Nine intensive revisions were undertaken between 1952 and 2004, involving an average six-year gap, but the latest was pending for 22 years.
"SIR is required as the electoral roll is dynamic and changes due to deaths, shifting of people due to reasons such as migration due to occupation/ education/ marriage, and addition of new voters who have turned 18 years old," said the officer.
As per Census 2011, there were 454 million migrants in India, up from 315 million in 2001. Even as per the Migration in India Report, 2021, the percentage of migrants in the population was estimated at around 29%, which is more than the winning margin in many of the constituencies.
"SIR will introduce complete transparency in the additions/deletions in the electoral rolls through active participation of booth level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties," the officer said, and added that around 1.5 lakh BLAs, including over 47,000 deployed by RJD alone, will monitor each stage of SIR. Interestingly, even as RJD is opposing SIR, its MLA from Hathua Rajesh Kushwaha has released posters educating electors on how to ensure they are enrolled.
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