Bihar SIR: survey of 338 migrant workers finds that over one-third of them do not have documents sought by EC
A phone survey of migrant workers from Bihar was conducted by the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN), a volunteer-driven initiative that was started in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. SWAN, in a statement, said that the survey was conducted among 338 migrant workers from their database from July 19 to July 21 this year.
In the statement, SWAN said that even though their sample 'is not a statistically representative survey', 'the findings provide strong evidence of the challenges faced by migrant workers as those who migrate away from home are most susceptible to documentation deficits'.
The Election Commission (EC) is currently in the process of finishing the special intensive revision, which was announced last month, even as the State readies to go to polls no later than November this year. The EC requires that anyone not featuring in the 2003 electoral rolls must submit one of 11 documents such as birth certificate, school-leaving certificate, caste certificate, passport, etc. This list does not include documents like Aadhaar, voter id, or PAN cards, which are accepted while applying for most of the 11 prescribed documents.
SWAN said that it found that among the respondents, there were 248 individuals who were residing elsewhere. Of this, 75% 'had not even heard of the online portal to submit the enumeration form for SIR', adding that they found just two of these people had submitted the forms online. Further, it found that out of 333 respondents, 53% said that an official had visited their homes in Bihar for the SIR, 23% said no official had visited their homes, and about 24% said they were not aware if officials had visited their homes.
Even among those who reported that officials visited their homes, around 45% said that the officials collected the forms with a copy of their Aadhaar card or voter ID, and 29% reported that the forms were collected with one of the prescribed 11 documents.
The survey further reported finding that Aadhaar and voter id were the most commonly available documents with the respondents, with 96% reporting having an Aadhaar and 84% reporting having a voter id.
Among the respondents who did have one of the 11 prescribed documents, 46% reported having a matriculation certificate, 39% said they had caste certificates, 30% said they had domicile certificates and 39% reported having their birth certificates. The SWAN phone survey concluded that anyone having even one of these documents is likely to have a few more of the prescribed documents.
SWAN said the survey's findings 'establishes more evidence' that the SIR exercise in Bihar is 'mired in chaos'.
It went on to say, 'Contrary to official claims, the majority have not heard of the online system. Notwithstanding the impracticality of such a hasty exercise, the interaction with the migrant workers leads us to believe that SIR exercise will disenfranchise millions of people in Bihar. This further pushes us to suggest that the SIR exercise must be revoked without further delay.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
27 minutes ago
- Hans India
Abhishek Banerjee accuses ECI of working as an extended arm of BJP
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) was working as an extended arm of the BJP to help the party win upcoming elections in different states. Referring to the Election Commission's recently concluded special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, Banerjee said that it was such a shame that the commission was working as an extended arm of the BJP to help it gain an advantage in every election. 'It is helping the ruling party in the country to loot votes. Voting rights are being taken away from a large number of people. Even fake voter identity cards have been issued.. In the name of conducting SIR, people are being harassed. We have seen it happening in 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls when central force personnel had shot four people dead in Cooch Behar district's Sitalkuchi," Banerjee told media persons outside the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. Responding to queries on the allegations of Bangladeshi Muslims and Rohingyas residing in Bengal illegally, Banerjee said it was the responsibility of the Union Home Ministry and BSF to stop infiltration. "Even if I agree that these people have entered the country illegally, then who is responsible for stopping their entry? Who mans the international borders? If the security of the country is compromised, then the Union Home Minister, BSF's director general, and IB director should resign,' he added. At the same time, Banerjee made a social media post on Monday, criticising calls to separate politics from sports and rejecting the idea of sporting ties with Pakistan. "INDIA MUST NOT ENGAGE WITH PAKISTAN in any sphere. The only engagement we should have with Pakistan is on the BATTLEFIELD, and the only prize worth WINNING is Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK)," Banerjee wrote. He accused Pakistan of exporting terror for decades and causing irreparable loss to Indian lives and families. "When a nation wages a proxy war, there is no 'neutral ground.' THERE IS NO CRICKET PITCH WISE ENOUGH TO WASH OFF THE BLOOD OF OUR MARTYRS," he said. He further stressed that while cricketers are respected, the nation owes its freedom and security to the armed forces. "Our TRICOLOUR flies high not because of a bat and ball, but because of the unmatched courage and valour of our armed forces. We honour our cricketers, but as a nation, we revere our soldiers."
Indian Express
27 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Bihar SIR: SC does not stay EC drive, asks it to ‘proceed with' Aadhaar, voter card
The Supreme Court Monday refused to stop the Election Commission (EC) from publishing the draft electoral roll for Bihar, drawn up following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), on August 1. A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi said the petitioners' concerns were taken care of by the suggestion in the July 10 order of the Court to also consider Aadhaar and Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), and that the Court can always step in and strike it down if there is any illegality. In its July 10 order, the apex court had asked the EC to consider Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards for the purpose of updating the rolls, but left it to the discretion of the poll body whether to accept or reject them. 'In the last order, there is a very good suggestion, to consider Aadhaar and EPIC,' Justice Surya Kant told Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for the EC. 'As of now, the two documents (Aadhaar and EPIC) have a presumption of correctness, because these are authenticated documents. So you proceed with these two documents…'. Cases of forged documents can be dealt with on a case-to-case basis, the Court said. 'Wherever you find forgery, that's on a case-to-case basis. Any document on Earth can be forged,' Justice Kant said, adding that there 'should not be en masse exclusion', rather there should be 'en masse inclusion'. At the very outset, Justice Kant said he had an administrative meeting scheduled and might not be able to hold court for the rest of the day. He asked the parties to inform how much time they would need to argue, and said the Court would fix a date for hearing. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), said the EC 'had violated the Court's order' as far as considering Aadhaar and EPIC cards went. Justice Kant referred to the counter affidavit filed by the EC and remarked that the poll panel has not rejected the two documents. Sankaranarayanan replied that 'factually, on the ground, they are not accepting'. Justice Kant said: 'It seems their stand is that the list of documents which initially excluded Aadhaar is not exhaustive, and following this Court's direction or advice, these documents will also be accepted.' Dwivedi, appearing for the EC, said: 'What we have said is that as far as ration cards are considered, we have difficulty in accepting… large-scale (forgery).' He added: 'As far as the EPIC card is concerned, the pre-filled enumeration form includes the EPIC number… EPIC is being considered, but since the electoral roll is being revised, EPIC cannot be conclusive… because this is a Special Intensive Revision.' Justice Bagchi said the EC can take it into account if someone submits the enumeration form with Aadhaar and, if necessary, issue a notice thereafter. 'Maybe one in a thousand cases, you will find this EPIC card is also forged, that can be (dealt with) on a case-to-case basis,' said Justice Kant. 'For that matter, any document on this Earth can be forged. Then Aadhaar can also be… So, as of now, the two documents (Aadhaar and EPIC) have a presumption of correctness, because these are authenticated documents. So you proceed with these two documents….' Dwivedi said the EC was allowing Aadhaar, adding: 'What we are saying is that under the Aadhaar Act itself, Section 9 says that, by itself, it is not proof of citizenship.' The Court asked the parties to submit the timeline Tuesday after which it will fix the next date of hearing.
The Hindu
27 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Mass inclusion and not exclusion should be goal of Bihar SIR, says Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Monday (July 28, 2025) pushed harder for the Election Commission of India (ECI)) to accept Aadhaar and the Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) as identity documents in the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR), saying 'mass inclusion' and not 'en masse exclusion' should be the outcome of the exercise in the poll-bound State. With three more days left for the publication of the draft electoral roll on August 1, the ECI continued to resist the court's suggestion, saying Aadhaar, EPIC and ration cards could be forged easily. On July 10, the apex court had asked the Election Commission to consider these three documents to ward off the spectre of mass disenfranchisement even as petitioners, ranging from activists to political parties, called the SIR a 'citizenship screening'. Bihar SIR row hearing updates 'Any document on earth can be forged. Maybe one EPIC in a 1000 may not be genuine. That can be take up on a case-to-case basis… For that matter, any document on this earth can be forged,' Justice Surya Kant, accompanied by Justice Joymalya Bagchi, addressed the Election Commission (EC). Justice Kant said Aadhaar and EPIC have a 'presumption of correctness'. Aadhaar has a system of being authenticated when in use. EPIC was issued by the EC itself. 'So, proceed with Aadhaar and EPIC… Include these two documents in the list of 11,' Justice Kant said. Justice Bagchi reasoned that none of the 11 'indicative' documents acceptable as proof of identity were of a conclusive nature, be it residence or caste certificates. 'According to you none of these 11 documents are conclusive. They are just documents to accompany the enumeration forms. So if someone gives an Aadhaar card as proof of identity, why will you not evaluate the claim of the person to be in the electoral roll?' Justice Bagchi questioned the EC's logic. Senior advocates KK Venugopal and Rakesh Dwivedi appeared for the EC. The petitioners were represented by senior advocates like Kapil Sibal and Gopal Sankaranarayanan. The court, which rose early, said it would announce on July 29 an early date and a proper schedule for hearing the final arguments in the case. Mr. Sankaranaraynan alerted the Bench about the proximity of the date of publication of the draft roll, August 1. But Justice Kant was unperturbed, saying 'it was only a draft'. Noting that the petitioners had not insisted on any interim relief of the stay of the publication or a freeze on the SIR exercise, the judge assured the petitioners that publication of the draft roll would not shrink the powers of the court to overturn any decision of the EC, provided the petitioners prove their case. The senior lawyer said the publication of the draft roll would leave 4.5 crore people excluded from it rudderless. The burden would be transferred onto them to prove their identity and citizenship, file objections and even seek a review. At this point, Justice Bagchi drew the counsel's attention to the EC affidavit which stated that voters who were in the existing 2025 electoral roll of Bihar would feature in the draft roll to be published on August 1, provided they submitted their enumeration forms, with or without documents. The existing electoral roll was published in Bihar on January 7, 2015 after a special summary revision of the electoral roll. 'In substance, each elector included in the 2025 electoral roll shall form part of the draft roll merely on submission of the enumeration form,' the 88-page ECI affidavit had submitted. The electors who were unable to submit their enumeration forms with documents in time for the draft roll had another opportunity to be included in the final roll. 'This claims period is stipulated for another period of 31 days after publication of the draft roll, ie, till September 1, 2025,' the ECI clarified. The final roll would be published on September 30, 2025. 'Even after the publication of the final roll, new electors can be enrolled up to the last date of nominations of the forthcoming Bihar elections… Any apprehension of huge disenfranchisement is misleading and non-existent,' the ECI has assured. Further, the ECI said electors whose names already feature in the electoral roll of Bihar in 2003, when the last intensive revision was held, were exempted from furnishing documents to prove their eligibility. 'They are only required to file the partially pre-filled enumeration form along with the extract of the 2003 roll,' the affidavit had said.
