<p class="bodytext">The Supreme Court’s directive to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to accept Aadhaar as a valid proof of identity in Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is another welcome intervention the Court has made to address complaints about the exercise. The acceptance of Aadhaar as the 12th identity evidence, along with the ration card, passport, and other documents, will make the revision a lot more inclusive. It further exposes questionable positions taken by the ECI on SIR, launched just a few weeks before the Assembly election in the state. The apex court had, in August, suggested the use of Aadhaar along with 11 other documents that the ECI had prescribed for verification. However, reports from the state revealed that booth-level officers continued to reject Aadhaar as evidence. This prompted the Court to issue the latest directive, which has left no room for discretion on the part of the BLOs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The ECI told the Court that Aadhaar could not be used because it was only a proof of residence, not of citizenship. But the Court pointed out that apart from the passport and birth certificate, none of the documents ECI prescribed could be considered as proof of citizenship. The other documents could also be procured by illegal means. It needs to be noted that about 90% of the population have Aadhaar in their possession, unlike the other prescribed documents. In terms of access and availability, Aadhaar came with a distinct advantage. The exercise has seen about 65 lakh electors excluded from the rolls. Acceptance of Aadhaar could have helped many of these voters enter the list. If the argument was about the authenticity of the document, the ECI had the resources to verify it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An element of confusion has been added to the SIR exercise with the ECI’s decision to rationalise and rearrange polling booths in the state. The Commission has added 12,817 polling stations, taking their total number to 90,712. It has also brought down the number of electors in each booth from 1,500 to 1,200. The ECI has the welcome aim of easing voter access and reducing overcrowding during the elections. However, it has also shifted BLOs – this means voters who have raised grievances will now have to engage with a new set of officials. Not all documents have been digitised, and some of the BLOs will still need to verify documents available with their predecessors. This additional administrative layer will create delays and confusion, with only a fortnight left for the process to end.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The Supreme Court’s directive to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to accept Aadhaar as a valid proof of identity in Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is another welcome intervention the Court has made to address complaints about the exercise. The acceptance of Aadhaar as the 12th identity evidence, along with the ration card, passport, and other documents, will make the revision a lot more inclusive. It further exposes questionable positions taken by the ECI on SIR, launched just a few weeks before the Assembly election in the state. The apex court had, in August, suggested the use of Aadhaar along with 11 other documents that the ECI had prescribed for verification. However, reports from the state revealed that booth-level officers continued to reject Aadhaar as evidence. This prompted the Court to issue the latest directive, which has left no room for discretion on the part of the BLOs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The ECI told the Court that Aadhaar could not be used because it was only a proof of residence, not of citizenship. But the Court pointed out that apart from the passport and birth certificate, none of the documents ECI prescribed could be considered as proof of citizenship. The other documents could also be procured by illegal means. It needs to be noted that about 90% of the population have Aadhaar in their possession, unlike the other prescribed documents. In terms of access and availability, Aadhaar came with a distinct advantage. The exercise has seen about 65 lakh electors excluded from the rolls. Acceptance of Aadhaar could have helped many of these voters enter the list. If the argument was about the authenticity of the document, the ECI had the resources to verify it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An element of confusion has been added to the SIR exercise with the ECI’s decision to rationalise and rearrange polling booths in the state. The Commission has added 12,817 polling stations, taking their total number to 90,712. It has also brought down the number of electors in each booth from 1,500 to 1,200. The ECI has the welcome aim of easing voter access and reducing overcrowding during the elections. However, it has also shifted BLOs – this means voters who have raised grievances will now have to engage with a new set of officials. Not all documents have been digitised, and some of the BLOs will still need to verify documents available with their predecessors. This additional administrative layer will create delays and confusion, with only a fortnight left for the process to end.</p>
