SIR — A hasty move? NRI concerns grow

The revision, verification, and correction of the electoral roll are natural parts of the democratic process. However, the special expedited revision of the electoral roll announced by the Election Commission has now become a matter of concern across the country. It is natural for people to be concerned when the constitutional institution that is supposed to ensure free and fair elections is perceived as an ally of a political party.

The stated objectives of the electoral roll revision are to cleanse, correct, and reorganise the list. However, the haste and lack of transparency have alarmed citizens and political observers alike. We have the experience of Bihar, where genuine voters were excluded in the name of verification.

Moreover, the impracticality of these provisions has become another topic of discussion in villages and cities. As Nobel laureate Prof. Amartya Sen has warned, this process carries the “risk of disenfranchising the socially backward classes and the poor.” Another group facing the same threat is the NRIs. Protests in front of Parliament and across Bihar, led by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, alleging that the SIR is part of vote-rigging, have received widespread support.

NRI Voting Rights and a New Crisis

With the government ignoring decades-old demands to grant voting rights to NRIs, they are forced to exercise their democratic rights by taking time off during elections. However, 90 per cent of NRIs are unable to do so. The new move by the Election Commission has worried Indian citizens living abroad. The biggest fear among NRIs is that their names will be unfairly excluded from the voter list.

NRIs cannot directly interact with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who visit their homes. They cannot receive forms, notices, and notifications sent to them in a timely manner, which may lead to missed deadlines. As a result, there is great concern that NRI voters, who are already largely excluded, will be completely wiped out.

What is happening now is not a simple re-verification but a comprehensive review process that involves a fresh inspection of each house, including supporting documents and forms. It is practically impossible for those abroad to share this information directly.

In states such as Bihar, after asking for address records and other local evidence, people who had lived there and exercised their right to vote for generations lost that right, and now their very citizenship is in question.

In the case of NRIs, the situation is more complicated: many will have old address records in India; some will have changed their addresses; and some may not have renewed their Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC). Local BLOs are unable to contact them. There is also no clarity between states about which documents will be accepted.

All these circumstances increase the risk of NRIs being removed from the list. The biggest hurdle for those living abroad is the lack of timely notifications. Although electronic methods could be used instead of postal means and in-person visits, this has not been fully implemented in the SIR process. Therefore, the idea of remote verification remains only a possibility.

The lack of clarity and coordination by the Election Commission, which should protect the credibility and impartiality of the list, has become a political concern.

Key Demands of Expatriates

It is natural for those living abroad to change their addresses over the years. The situation in which voting rights are questioned on the basis of old address documents poses an administrative threat to expatriates. There is no doubt that the loss of voting rights of the expatriate community, which is the backbone of India’s economy and culture, would be a violation of the spirit of democracy. The expatriates are demanding the following in this regard:

Comprehensive unification: Make the written provisions and guidelines uniform across all states.

Digital system: Implement a digital/remote verification system immediately.

Timely notifications: Provide timely notifications to NRIs.

Transparent verification: Ensure transparency in the verification and removal of names.

Online redressal: Provide a robust online mechanism for redressal of grievances.

It is a core constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure that no citizen is left out of the voter list. The strength of democracy lies not in the list, but in the participation of the citizenry.

(The author is the Middle East Convenor of the Overseas Congress Department)