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News18
2 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Why India's Voter Lists Are Still Hard For Computers To Read—And What It Means For Democracy
Last Updated: If allowed, machine-readable electoral rolls could be a crucial step towards greater transparency and trust in India's democratic process The demand for machine-readable electoral rolls is not new for the Election Commission of India (ECI). Congress made this demand in 2018, but the poll body rejected it, backed by the Supreme Court. The same demand is being raised again. But what exactly is a machine-readable file, and how could it help solve problems related to verifying fake voters? A machine-readable file is a digital data format that computer programs can easily process, analyse, and verify without human help—often in just a few minutes. These files are structured, with each piece of information clearly labelled and consistently organised within a dataset. This contrasts with unstructured formats like PDFs or scanned images, which typically require manual or error-prone optical character recognition (OCR) to extract usable information—the data currently shared by the ECI. In simpler terms, anyone with basic computer knowledge can upload a machine-readable file and run commands to analyse it. Machine-reading and mass scrutiny could significantly help the poll body clean the electoral roll faster and more efficiently—after proper verification, of course. What can machine-readable files do? If the voter list were machine-readable, even ordinary citizens could easily analyse patterns from any constituency in the country. For instance, if I am a voter from the New Delhi assembly seat and want to check how many Shanti Devi(s) are registered in the constituency, I could do so easily. I could also filter the details to see how many of them are, say, 55 years old and have Mukesh Yadav as the husband's name. If this person has multiple registrations, I could highlight that. If similar data were available for, say, Mumbai, I could check if the same combination is registered there as well. Of course, there can be valid voters with identical details, but that is where data with political parties and ECI—including images—can be used. Currently, all checks have to be done manually. The ECI does have sophisticated systems, but they are not available in the public domain or for political parties. Looking for a Shanti Devi among one booth, a few thousand voters, or an entire assembly can be done manually. But for the world's largest electorate, involving 96.88 crore voters as of February 2024, this becomes a monumental task. Rahul Gandhi, while sharing the claim of one lakh 'vote chori", highlighted that the poll body provides seven feet of paper for one assembly, and it took a team of about 40 people around six months to catch fake voters. Enrolment in the voter list is a statutory right. Claims or objections on draft rolls can be filed by citizens or parties using Form 7, submitted via booth-level agents. These requests are investigated by booth-level officers, with final decisions made by the Electoral Registration Officer. Typically, a month is allowed between the draft roll's publication and the final roll's release. Given Gandhi's claim on time and manpower constraints, raising objections against widespread fake voters appears difficult. Why are such files demanded, and why are they denied? The current data shared by the ECI does not allow automated comparison, validation, or auditing of electoral rolls because it lacks consistent formatting. This makes detecting duplicate entries difficult. Moreover, the demand is important because obscure anomalies can only be spotted through computational analysis. The ECI has rejected Congress's demands for a machine-readable voter list, citing the legal framework and past Supreme Court rulings. In 2018, senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath moved the Supreme Court, claiming electoral rolls showed multiple entries of the same individuals, up to 36 times, based on data sourced from a private website. The ECI's counteraffidavit acknowledged these discrepancies and agreed to delete or take corrective actions in the rolls. However, the court found no merit in the claim. The court ruled that Nath cannot claim a right to have the draft electoral roll published on the website in a 'searchable mode", and it is the ECI's prerogative to decide the format in which the draft roll is published. According to the ECI manual, the draft roll should be made public on the chief electoral officer's website in an image PDF format, text mode, with no photographs. Machine-readable files, the ECI fears, could lead to potential manipulation and a loss of voter confidence. Change in Bihar format raising eyebrows The Bihar draft roll issued on August 1 was mostly searchable and machine-readable but was replaced by a larger file unreadable by AI tools after the claims from Rahul Gandhi were made. The poll body has issued no statement about the change. Tests by News18 using ChatGPT and Perplexity showed the earlier file was searchable with no duplicate entries found, while the current file yielded no extractable text and was described as a 'text dump from a PDF scan". OCR on the Bagaha constituency PDF produced false duplicates due to unclear text. Why is AI struggling to analyse this data? B Sundaresan, a data expert from Bengaluru, explained that PDFs are often not machine-readable. 'When Rahul Gandhi says OCR can't be done, he means the PDF is of poor quality. For example, software can't easily convert a pay slip PDF to Excel because PDFs come in many formats, like newspapers or pay slips. Though the data format inside stays the same, computers find it hard to interpret," he said. He added that the type of PDF matters. 'There's no standard format, so you can't always extract the same information the same way. You can search a pay slip saved as a text PDF, but electoral rolls scanned as images can't be searched," said Sundaresan. Regarding artificial intelligence scanning voter lists, he said AI itself isn't the problem, but poor-quality scans limit effectiveness. 'Large Language Models like ChatGPT can't extract data accurately from PDFs without OCR, and OCR needs clear documents. Handwritten or low-quality scans, like village muster rolls, will fail." M Priyamvada, a Pune-based data analyst, noted PDFs aren't true documents like Word files but sets of instructions for painting pixels. 'Scanned PDFs have no actual text—just images—so machines rely on error-prone OCR," she said. What can change with machine-readable data? If allowed, machine-readable electoral rolls could be a crucial step towards greater transparency and trust in India's democratic process. top videos View all Allowing electoral rolls in a standardised machine-readable format would not only speed up the removal of fake or duplicate entries but also open the process to unprecedented public scrutiny. In a democracy of nearly a billion voters, that level of transparency could transform how citizens, parties, and watchdogs safeguard the ballot. The real question is whether the Election Commission and India's political system are ready to trust their people with that power by taking care of the legal, privacy, and technical challenges. About the Author Nivedita Singh Nivedita Singh is a data journalist and covers the Election Commission, Indian Railways and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She has nearly seven years of experience in the news media. She tweets @ More Get Latest Updates on Movies, Breaking News On India, World, Live Cricket Scores, And Stock Market Updates. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : ai bihar congress election commission electoral roll PDF tech Voter list view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: August 13, 2025, 08:30 IST News explainers Why India's Voter Lists Are Still Hard For Computers To Read—And What It Means For Democracy Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Wrestling craze growing among youngsters in city
1 2 Prayagraj: Joining wrestling clubs seems to be becoming the latest fad among youngsters of Sangam City this Shrawan. Many are turning to the Jhunsi-based wrestling club to for fitness and pursue a career in wrestling. Mukesh Yadav, who runs the railway akhara in Jhunsi, says: "The craze for wrestling among youngsters has increased this Shrawan, and they are working hard to learn tips to counter their rivals in the akhara. Youngsters are more inclined to join wrestling clubs after realising that prize money wrestling competitions are being organised during the festive occasion of the Shrawan month." Apart from men, teenagers and girls are also learning traditional wrestling at the railway akhara. "Apart from pursuing their studies, a section of youngsters is interested in learning the basics of wrestling," Yadav added. Sumit, a class XI student, who is the youngest grappler in the akhara, says: "Wrestling helps to maintain the fitness of an individual, and I also want to make a mark for myself in wrestling." Mukesh Yadav, who has run the Jhunsi akhara for over two decades, says: "Most of the youngsters are from other cities and have taken rented accommodations to learn wrestling. They are very cautious about their diet and exercise." As many wrestling competitions (dangal) are organised on the Naag Panchmi festival, these wrestlers are looking forward to competing in the city as well as other districts of the region. Old-timers claimed traditional wrestling has some rules and is fought in areas with loose mud and sand. Many competitions are organised during the month of Shrawan, and winners are felicitated with trophies and cash prizes. Earlier, there used to be 10-12 akharas in the region, but the number has come down to 2-3.
Indian Express
19-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Here's why Delhi school principals will undergo mandatory training as part of NEEEV scheme
Students in classes 8 to 12 in Delhi Government schools will soon begin learning entrepreneurship as part of their regular curriculum. The lessons will slowly progress from understanding the startup ecosystem, ideation techniques, prototype generation, and funding opportunities to eventually building their startups, as per senior officials. To kickstart this transition, all Heads of Schools (HoSs) will undergo a one-day orientation next week under the newly launched New Era of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem & Vision (NEEEV) Scheme. The training will be conducted by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) between July 21 and 24 in multiple batches across venues. As per a recent SCERT circular, school heads have been asked to attend the training without fail. The circular issued on July 16 by Dr Mukesh Yadav, Joint Director (Academic), SCERT, states that the NEEEV Scheme, introduced during the 2025-26 Budget Session, is a 'pioneering initiative aimed at integrating entrepreneurship education into the school curriculum.' The circular went on to state that the programme is 'aligned with the vision of NEP 2020' and promotes 'skill-based, experiential, and competency-driven learning to prepare students for real-world challenges and opportunities.' An introductory overview of the scheme shared by the Directorate of Education (DoE) on July 8 outlines an 'experiential' and 'hands-on' learning model. It states that 'Entrepreneurship Education has emerged as a critical component of modern schooling, fostering traits like creativity, problem-solving and self-reliance among students.' The scheme is introduced 'to foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Delhi and bridge the existing gaps in education and employability skills.' NEEEV is described as 'a specialized, skill-based and competency-driven entrepreneurial education scheme uniquely designed for school students.' It aims to 'provide advanced entrepreneurial training while fostering innovation…and business acumen from an early stage.' The curriculum will follow 'a progressive, hands-on approach to entrepreneurial competency, starting in Class 8 and advancing through Class 12, blending experiential and theoretical learning for holistic, future-ready development.' Entrepreneurship classes will be held once a week and taught by teachers nominated by the Principal or HoS from within the school faculty. Each school must also designate a NEEEV School Programme Coordinator and maintain lesson progress on an upcoming online module prepared by the DoE. Along with this, a School Innovation Council (SIC) will be established in every school, headed by the principal or school head. Two new initiatives have been planned to be integrated into the classroom learning. 'NEEEV Dialogue', a speaker series, will be held twice a year, giving students from these classes 'the opportunity to engage with university incubators, entrepreneurs, and industry experts'. A 'Startup Stormers' competition, open to students of Classes 9 onwards, is also to be held under the scheme to gradually help the students fund their business ideas. The circular added that shortlisted teams from the competition, selected by their School Innovation Councils, may receive financial support 'to strengthen their concepts and to help transform their solution/idea/prototypes into viable ventures.' In 2019-20, in a similar effort the then Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had introduced the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC). As part of this, seed money was provided under Business Blasters— a practical component of the curriculum. In schools equipped with Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs), students have been advised to use resources such as 3D printers, IoT (Internet of Things) kits, Artificial Intelligence AI and Robotics tools, LEGO kits, and other STEM equipment for hands-on innovation. As part of the scheme, to support a 'decentralised implementation', the directorate will also establish District Innovation Councils (DICs) and Zonal Innovation Councils (ZICs), it said. Nodal schools are to be assigned for coordination and reporting in each district and zone, and respective Deputy Directors (DDEs) will oversee its implementation, the circular said. The NEEEV Scheme, the directorate notes, aims 'to empower aspiring entrepreneurs and strengthen the startup landscape,' while encouraging a shift from rote learning to experiential, competency-based education.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Time of India
Liquor salesman shot dead during robbery in UP's Budaun, 3 held
Meerut: Police arrested three men on Wednesday, following a brief encounter, for allegedly killing a 35-year-old salesman during a robbery at a liquor store in Kunwargaon region of UP's Budaun. The victim, Mukesh Yadav, a resident of Ranjhaura village, worked at a country liquor store in Diguraya village. On Tuesday night, as Mukesh was counting cash before closing the shop, two assailants arrived on a motorcycle with the intent to rob. When Mukesh resisted, one of them drew a gun and shot him twice before fleeing the spot. A case was registered against four people, including two unidentified persons, under relevant BNS sections, including 103 (murder). While two accused carried out the robbery, two others were involved in its planning, said police. Budaun SSP Brijesh Kumar Singh said, "Four police teams were formed to investigate the matter. Three suspects were arrested following an encounter, during which they were shot in the legs. In the exchange of gunfire, a constable also sustained an injury. One of the accused, Bihari, is still missing, and efforts are on to nab him. An investigation is underway and action will be taken accordingly." Those arrested have been identified as Mohit Kumar, Shyam Singh, and Mohammad Irfan, aged between 20 and 30. They told police that they planned to rob the liquor store after they received information that it reported high sales, which is usually around Rs 7 lakh. On Tuesday, when they reached the shop around 9.30 pm, only Mukesh was present at the counter. They threatened him with a country-made pistol and started to loot cash from the drawer. When he resisted, they shot him and fled with Rs 27, 000.
