New Delhi: It has been one year since the Election Commission launched its "Special Intensive Revision" (SIR) to correct errors in electoral rolls and include all eligible voters. Reviewing the past year's figures shows that roughly six crore names have been removed from the rolls nationwide. The clean-up process is currently ongoing across 19 states and union territories.
The SIR exercise began on June 24 last year as a pilot ahead of the Bihar assembly elections. In Bihar alone, about 65 lakh names were struck off the rolls through the process. Critics, including opposition parties and civil society groups, accused the Election Commission of acting to deny voting rights to citizens without adequate documentation at the behest of the ruling party, triggering intense disputes between the opposition and the poll body.
The second phase of SIR, announced on October 27 last year, covered 12 states and union territories — Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. These areas recorded an overall 10.2 percent reduction in the number of registered voters.
Before the exercise began, the electoral rolls listed 50.99 crore voters; after verification the figure fell to 45.81 crore — a reduction of 5.18 crore names in a single round. The removals included 66,88,636 deceased persons, the highest numbers being from Uttar Pradesh (2.547 million) and West Bengal (2.416 million). In addition, 63.16 lakh names were deleted following complaints and verification checks during the SIR process.
In March, the Supreme Court gave its full approval to the Election Commission’s decision to implement SIR, ruling that the exercise is constitutionally valid under representation-of-the-people laws. The court said the procedure aims to ensure no eligible citizen is excluded and no ineligible person remains on the rolls. A section about SIR has also been included in the social-science textbook published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Meanwhile, reports have emerged from West Bengal and Bihar that people whose names were removed under SIR have been denied state welfare benefits. Those state governments had recently linked voter-roll data with social security programmes. The third phase of SIR is underway in 16 other states and three union territories, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Delhi.