Paper: GS – II, Subject: Polity, Topic: Elections and RPA, Issue: Issues with the voter verification drive.
Context:
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered a Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls in Bihar as part of a voter verification drive. All individuals missing from the 2003 rolls must prove their citizenship within one month to retain or gain the right to vote, affecting over 4.76 crore people in a document-scarce state like Bihar.
Key Highlights:
Concerns Raised:
Break from ECI Tradition: Historically, the ECI has expanded voting rights and ensured inclusivity. But the current exercise marks a shift toward voter exclusion, especially affecting the poor and less-documented groups.
Scale of the Exercise:
- Bihar’s total electorate: 7.9 crore.
- Those needing verification: 4.96 crore.
- Among them, 2.94 crore must prove eligibility due to being absent from the 2003 rolls and 1.1 crore have died since then.
- The rest who migrated out of Bihar or are untraceable.
Census & Survey Data:
- Lacking recognition: 7.04 lakh Biharis from lower castes have no government ID.
- Lacking birth certificates: Only 2.8% of population born between 2001–2005 lack birth certificates where as 16% of Biharis lack caste certificates.
- Lacking credentials: Many elderly lack school or college certificates. Only 2% have passports.
- Aadhar limitations: Aadhaar has limited utility which only proves residence, not citizenship.
Limitations of eligible documents list:
The ECI lists documents for proving citizenship. Issues include:
- School/College Certificates: Many poor Biharis lack formal education.
- Birth Certificates: Not widespread in rural Bihar.
- Passport: Held by only 2.5%.
- Caste Certificates: Difficult to obtain, and not proof of citizenship.
- Matriculation Certificates: Mostly held by literates while women and elderly are excluded.
- Identity Card from Govt. Schemes: Poorly documented and inconsistent.
- National Population Register (NPR): Not updated recently.
- Aadhaar: Proves identity/residence, not citizenship.
- Job Cards, Land Records: Often unavailable for the landless poor.
- Family Register (Kutumb Register): Vague and inconsistently maintained.
Further Challenges:
- Timeframe: Only one month for nearly 5 crore people.
- Disenfranchisement risk:
- Exclusion of migrants, youth, poor, Dalits, and women.
- It may worsen public distrust in the electoral system and damage democratic inclusiveness.
Conclusion:
The Voter verification drive, while aimed at cleaning the rolls, suffers from poor design, overambitious timelines and lack of ground-level preparedness. A more inclusive, gradual, and transparent approach is essential to prevent large-scale disenfranchisement.
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