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Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Yogendra Yadav writes: On ground in Bihar, Election Commission of India writes a dystopian fiction
We were in Patna when the news channels started reporting on the Election Commission of India's (ECI) counter-affidavit on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). We had just finished a day-long jansunwai, a public hearing organised by peoples' organisations, on the ground experience of the SIR in Bihar. About 250 ordinary people from 19 districts across Bihar, mostly villagers and a majority of them women, had come to Patna to share their stories. Some had travelled through the night in trains packed with kanwariyas and job aspirants coming to the state capital for a major exam. Exhausted, a few snoozed off and on, squatting uncomfortably on chairs. About three dozen of them got to tell their stories to a distinguished panel comprising Justice (Retd) Anjana Prakash, Wajahat Habibullah, Jean Drèze, Nandini Sundar, D M Diwakar and Bhanwar Meghwanshi. We read news reports about the affidavit late in the evening. And we recalled what we had heard through the day in the multiple languages of Bihar. The first-hand accounts we heard that day and in the preceding weeks had no resemblance to the official account. These two were clearly about two different worlds. The official account attributed to the ECI could well have been a piece of creative writing, a fiction about an imagined land, if only it were written better. On the ground, it has been a month of dystopia. Phulkumari Devi, a farm labourer from Hasanganj in Katihar, was asked for her photo, a copy of her Voter Card and her Aadhaar Card. (For context: the ECI had dispensed with the requirement of a photograph; EPIC was unnecessary as it was pre-printed on her form; Aadhaar number was 'optional' and the card inadmissible as per the ECI.) She had to sell the rice obtained from the ration shop, the only thing she had, to get photocopies and a photograph from the nearby town. She went hungry and lost two days of wages. Sumitra Devi, around 60 years old, came from Saharsa. She was told she needed to submit papers for her parents, who died long ago, and give caste or domicile certificates for herself, or else she would cease to be 'sarkar ke log'. She has spent Rs 300 to apply for a caste certificate, which she awaits. Gobind Paswan, again from Saharsa, was asked to give a copy of his passbook and land records. (Context: both were on the voters' list in 2003 and were not required to give any documents.) We heard many stories of touts (the husband of an anganwadi worker who was a BLO, for example) who charged poor people Rs 100 for filling in the form. Woman after woman spoke of how difficult and in many cases impossible it was to arrange documents from their mayaka (which was in Nepal in many cases) on the status of their parents in the 2003 electoral rolls. In this context, the idea that migrant workers would 'fill the enumeration form in online mode using their mobile phones through the ECINet App' is a joke. The findings of a rapid survey of migrant workers by Stranded Workers Action Network were reported in the jansunwai. Of the 235 migrant workers staying outside Bihar who were surveyed over the phone, one-third had not heard of the SIR. Among those who had heard, almost three in four had no idea of the required documents. Only one-tenth had heard about the official announcement of online submission. Let's compare just one sentence of official fiction with ground reality. Here is Guideline 3(b) of the SIR order, which the ECI claims to have followed faithfully: 'BLOs shall visit each household and distribute Enumeration Form, with pre-printed details of existing electors, to each existing elector in duplicate and will guide them in filling up the form.' This simple instruction contains six tasks. And it exposes six lies of the ECI. One, the BLOs were supposed to visit each household within their booth. They did not. Given the impossible deadlines, they could not. After trying for the first few days, they were instructed not to 'waste their time' in going from house to house. In nearly half the cases, we heard about voters chasing the BLO and not the other way round. Two, the distribution was to be done by the BLOs. In many urban areas, this was done by municipal employees with no official credentials. Three, they were supposed to give a unique form to each voter with pre-printed details. In many urban areas, including Patna, residents were given a blank form with no personal details. Four, the forms were to be given to each person on the existing voters' list. We heard numerous cases where not every member got the form. Five, the forms were to be given in duplicate, one copy to be given to the BLO and the other to be retained by the voter with a proof of receipt. This simply did not happen, unless an exceptionally persistent voter took a photocopy of her own form and forced the BLO to give an acknowledgement. Mostly, people were given only one form, with no proof of having submitted it to the BLO. Six, the BLO was to assist and guide people in filling in the forms. This was an impossible ask of the poor BLO, often ill-informed and already beleaguered. The best they could do was not misguide the voters. Senior journalist Ajit Anjum has released a number of video reports exposing on camera the SIR's biggest fraud: Enumeration forms being filled in without the voter's consent or even knowledge. We came across a multitude of cases of voters reporting this gross violation of the process. Either family members signed for a person out of station, or people were informed by the BLO that their forms had been submitted, without their having seen or signed them. In several cases, the voters discovered on the ECI website that they could not file their form as it had already been submitted. At least a quarter or more of the total forms filled in (the ECI reports a success rate of 98.01 per cent) could belong to this fraudulent category. These are not exceptions or operational lapses that often happen in a large exercise of this nature. The confusion and chaos of the SIR are an inevitable outcome of its design. What else should you expect if you kickstart such a massive exercise with less than 24 hours' notice, if you expect an ill-equipped and over-burdened administrative machine to carry out multiple tasks within four weeks, and if you demand of 8 crore people the documents you know they may not possess? The brazen violation of rules and norms and fake documentation being reported from all over Bihar was built into the SIR. It is pointless to blame the BLOs and the rest of the administrative machinery. They are as much victims as the ordinary people. The blame lies squarely with the ECI. It is not too late for it to acknowledge the reality and cease this experiment on the people. The jansunwai in Patna ended with a unanimous call to annul the SIR. Swami is state coordinator of Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan, Bihar. Shastri and Yadav work with the national team of Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan. Yadav has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the SIR
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls should be cancelled, says economist Jean Dreze
People's movements and organisations in Bihar on Monday (July 21, 2025) organised a day-long public hearing on the ongoing SIR (Special Intensive Revision) exercise in the State. At the end of the hearing, the panel opined that the SIR should be not be modified but cancelled. Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), Samar Charitable Trust, Swaraj Abhiyan and Kosi Navnirman Manch jointly organised the Jan Sunwai at the premises of Bihar Industries Association (BIA), Patna. The panel comprised Anjana Prakash (former judge, Patna High Court), Wajahat Habibullah (former Chief Information Commissioner), economist Jean Drèze, professor Nandini Sundar (Sociologist, Delhi School of Economics), Dr. D. M. Diwakar (former Director, A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna) and Bhanwar Meghwanshi (founder, Forward Press. People from 14 districts participated in the programme, and they shared their experiences along with problems with the panel. May voters who were not literate had to pay someone around ₹100 to fill up per form. Kanchan Devi of Katihar district said that she has to pay Rs 100 to get her form filled. Rukma Devi from the same district had similar complaint. Ram Chandra Prasad, a resident of Nalanda district, said that he will challenge the process in the court of law because he did not get the acknowledgement receipt after submitting the form to Booth Level officer (BLO). Phool Kumari Devi, a labourer from Katihar district, said that BLO asked her to get a photocopy of Aadhar and Voter card which she had lot of trouble. 'I travelled 4 km to get the passport photo. I had no money; I sold the rice I had got from ration. I did not work for two days to gather all the documents. I had no rice and went hungry for two days,' Ms. Devi said. In multiple instances, voters discovered that their forms had already been submitted by the BLO. Even their signatures on the forms were not taken. A resident of Patna, Nirmal Kumar, alleged that his close ones received threats from the district administration when they raised the voice that their forms were already filled and submitted online. Many shared their experience that enumeration forms were distributed not by BLOs, but by Ward Parshad, Anganwadi Workers and Kuda Wala. So, many voters received no instructions on how to fill out the form. In many households, a few members got the form and others did not. People from the Kosi region said that their document have been washed away due multiple floods in their region. After listening to the participants, Mr. Dreze said that the purpose of the SIR is not clear even after reading the 20-page notification of the Election Commission of India (ECI). 'The purpose is not clear, but the result is clear, in which people would not be able to exercise their franchise. As per the survey of Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, 37% people do not have the documents required by the Commission. You all can understand which community, class and supporters of the political parties would be removed from the voter list,' Mr. Dreze said. He further said that SIR is not practical and impossible so it should not be modified but cancelled. 'The SIR should not be modified but cancelled. There have been multiple violations of the ECI's processes while completing targets under unreasonable pressure. This will worsen the quality of the voters' list and defeat the stated purpose of the ECI,' Mr. Dreze said. Ms. Prakash said that the documents that the ECI is asking are impossible to submit for many rural Biharis. Mr. Habibullah emphasised that the work of ECI is to encourage the people to vote and create a situation that can ease the voters but through SIR, it seems that the poll body is creating problem for the voters and making their path difficult. On the other hand, Mr. Meghwansi said that the SIR process is a threat to the Preamble of the Constitution and political equality. Professor Diwakar pointed out that today the democracy is neither of the people, nor for the people, nor by the people and everyone have to make efforts to get it back. Expressing apprehension, Ms. Sunder said that the SIR is very dangerous for democracy, and she hoped that the people's voice would be heard.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Revision of Bihar poll rolls riddled with violations, should be cancelled: Jean Drèze
Various peoples' groups in Bihar organised a day-long public hearing on Monday (July 21, 2025) to study the ongoing SIR (special intensive revision) in the State. The panel concluded that the SIR should be cancelled, not modified. Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), Samar Charitable Trust, Swaraj Abhiyan, and Kosi Navnirman Manch jointly organised the Jan Sunwai at Bihar Industries Association (BIA) The panel comprised Anjana Prakash (former judge, Patna High Court); Wajahat Habibullah (former Chief Information Commissioner); economist Jean Drèze; professor Nandini Sundar, sociologist at the Delhi School of Economics; Dr. D. M. Diwakar, former director A. N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna; and Bhanwar Meghwanshi founder of Forward Press. The illiterate struggled People from 14 districts participated and shared their experiences with the panel. Illiterate voters reported having to pay someone ₹100 to fill out the form. Kanchan Devi of Katihar district said that she paid ₹100 to get her form filled. Rukma Devi from the same district had a similar complaint. Ram Chandra Prasad, from Nalanda, said that he will challenge the process in court because he did not get an acknowledgement receipt after submitting the form with the booth level officer (BLO). Phool Kumari Devi, a labourer from Katihar, said that the BLO asked her to get photo copies of the Aadhar and voter card which caused her a lot of trouble. 'I travelled 4km to get the passport photo. I had no money, which forced me to sell my ration rice. I did not work for two days to gather all the documents. Then because I was left with no rice I went hungry for two days,' Ms. Devi said. Forms submitted without consent In multiple instances, voters discovered that their forms had already been submitted by the BLO. Even their signatures on the forms were not taken. A resident of Patna, Nirmal Kumar alleged that his relatives received threats from the district administration when they protested about their forms having been filled already, and submitted online. Many said that enumeration forms were distributed not by BLOs, but by ward councillors, anganwadi workers, and sanitary staff. Many voters received no instructions on how to fill the form. In many households, a few members got the form and others did not. People from the Kosi region said that their document have been washed away by multiple floods in their region. SIR's objective not clear After listening to the participants, Mr. Drèze said that the purpose of the SIR is unclear even after reading the Election Commission of India's (ECI) 20 page notification. 'The purpose is not clear but the result is clear, people would not be able to their exercise franchise. As per the survey of Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, 37% people do not have the documents sought by the Commission. You all understand which community, class, and supporters of political parties will be removed from the voter list,' Mr. Drèze said. He further said that SIR is not practical and is impossible, so it should not be modified but cancelled. 'The SIR should be not modified but cancelled. There have been multiple violations of the ECI's own processes while completing targets under unreasonable pressure. This will worsen the quality of the voters' list and defeat the stated purpose of the ECI,'Mr. Drèze said. Documents difficult to procure Ms. Prakash said that the documents that the ECI seeks are impossible to submit for many rural Biharis. Mr. Habibullah emphasised that the work of ECI is to encourage the people to vote and create a situation which helps voters but through the SIR, it seems that the poll body is creating problems for the voters and making their path difficult. On other hand Mr. Meghwansi said that the SIR process is a threat to the Preamble of the Constitution and political equality. Professor Diwakar said that today democracy is neither of the people, nor for the people, nor by the people and everyone has to strive to reclaim it. Expressing apprehension Ms. Sunder said that the SIR poses a danger to democracy and she hoped that the people's voice would be heard.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
In public hearing, many allege discrepancies in SIR process
Patna: More than 250 people from 14 districts took part in a public hearing organised on the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar. A panel of six eminent citizens, including former Patna high court judge Anjana Prakash; economist Jean Dreze; former chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah; former director of A N Sinha Institute D M Diwakar; social worker Bhanwar Meghvanshi and sociologist Nandini Sundar heard the people's views on the SIR. The public hearing was jointly organised by Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, NAPM, Samar Charitable Trust, Swaraj Abhiyan and Kosi Navnirman Manch. Many of the participants, including one Phool Kumari Devi from Katihar, alleged discrepancies and listed the problems they faced in submitting the enumeration forms for the purpose. Some said Aadhaar card and EPIC were demanded by the BLOs, though the Election Commission (EC) has excluded these documents for the voter verification purpose. Many married women complained that they had difficulty in obtaining documents of their parents and discrepancies in demanding documents to prove their eligibility. In many families, they complained that some members got the forms while some did not. Some of them said BLOs also took a copy of the bank passbook, though it was not required. Some said the BLOs were under tremendous pressure. Justice (retd) Anjana Prakash said it is impossible for the people of rural Bihar to submit the documents being sought by the EC. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Dubai villas | search ads Get Deals Undo Habibullah said the SIR process is neither according to the Constitution nor in accordance with the RTI Act. Dreze said the SIR should not be amended but repealed. "The ECI's own procedures have been violated many times. This will reduce the quality of the voter list and defeat the purpose," he said.
Deccan Herald
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
Supreme Court refuses to stay BPSC mains exam scheduled for Apr 25
Senior advocate Anjana Prakash, appearing for the petitioners, argued that digital evidence, including WhatsApp messages and video clips, demonstrated that question papers were leaked before the exam.
