Former civil servants call for scrapping of electoral roll revision

The Constitutional Conduct Group, a collective of former All-India and Central Services civil servants, has called for the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise has led to voter disenfranchisement and placed an unreasonable burden on citizens.

In an open letter, the group said instances of bulk deletions, arbitrary additions, inadequate documentation, partisan instructions and unreasonable demands on voters had emerged during the exercise. It said placing the burden of proving citizenship on voters exceeded the Election Commission of India’s constitutional mandate and lacked constitutional justification.

The former civil servants said the SIR could undermine universal adult suffrage, damage the reputation of the Election Commission and affect India’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual social fabric.

The group said it had interacted with people who had been disenfranchised as well as former civil servants with experience of working with the Election Commission and handling elections at different levels.

It also questioned whether the decision to undertake the SIR was taken independently by the Election Commission or at the behest of the government.

The group called on the Election Commission to scrap the SIR and return to established procedures for voter registration provided under the rules.

The letter was signed by 100 former civil servants.

The statement came a day after the reported detention and manhandling of protesters in various parts of India, including New Delhi, during demonstrations seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.