NGOs, ex-bureaucrats in Rajasthan want SIR deadline extended, exclusionary conditions dropped

Activists of a number of Non Government Organisations (NGOs), including the PUCL, along with several retired bureaucrats, have demanded extension of Special Intensive Revision(SIR) by at least six months and removal of the exclusionary conditions imposed for the nationwide exercise.

These social workers, including a number of ex officers, have arranged a public hearing of grievances of people who have been facing difficulties in filling up and submission of the SIR forms in Rajasthan.

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Around 200 people facing problems with the SIR exercise, from districts like Dungarpur, Udaipur, Banswara, Beawar, Sirohi, Bhilwara, Ajmer, Alwar, Jaipur, Tonk, and Rajsamand attended the public hearing conducted by a panel here. They have placed their testimonies before the panel.

The panel was chaired by retired senior IAS officer and former Chief Electoral Officer Sudhir Verma. Former IAS officers Meenakshi Hooja, Alka Kala, Rajendra Bhanawat; former State Administrative Service officer Shaukat Ali; Bharat Jodo Abhiyan’s National Secretary Kamayani Swami; and PUCL Rajasthan President Bhanwar Meghwanshi were the other panelists.

The testimonies showed that ‘large-scale voter exclusion’ is taking place during the SIR campaign. Several resolutions were passed unanimously in the hearing, and the principal demand was that the time period for the SIR process be extended by at least 06 months and the requirement to prove the 2002 voter list be completely removed, the hearing organisers spokesperson said.

At the start of the hearing, it was said that “The current design of SIR is not to enroll voters but to exclude them from the electoral roll, contrary to Article 326 of the Constitution. In the 1992 Lal Babu Hussain vs ECI judgment, the Supreme Court clearly stated that the Election Commission cannot determine the citizenship of an Indian citizen. Yet this process has effectively become a means of citizenship verification”, spokesperson said.

Given the extremely short timeline of SIR, it should be immediately extended by at least six months, as migrant workers, people from tribal areas of South Rajasthan who have gone out for work, and daily wage earners are unable to meet BLOs, a resolution adopted at the hearing stated.

The harmful condition requiring proof of the 2002 voter list or EPIC number must be removed immediately. Women who change their names after marriage, Denotified and Nomadic Tribes, transgender persons, deserted/single women, sex workers, migrant workers from other states, are losing their voting rights because of this condition, the resolution held.

The 2002 condition must also be removed from Form-6 and the Aadhaar should be accepted as a full and valid document, the spokesperson added quoting the resolution.

Where there are differences in names, self-declaration/affidavit should suffice for inclusion in the voter list. Voter cards issued in 1995 should also be deemed valid.