The Election Commission is all set for a country-wide roll out of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The first phase of the process would implemented in more than 10 states, including in poll-bound Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal.
This exercise comes in the wake of the controversial SIR in Bihar, which was done hurriedly. As has been widely reported, the final voter list in Bihar is riddled with inaccuracies – including excess deletions, gibberish names, and fake addresses.
Now, with a pan-India SIR on the anvil, questions abound: Why is it necessary? Will the process incorporate the changes suggested by the Supreme Court in the Bihar context - especially with regard to the use of Aadhaar, publishing voter lists in searchable format, and checking of migrant names in other states before deleting their names? How serious are concerns about mass disenfranchisement on a national scale in a nation-wide SIR?
Guest: Sreeparna Chakrabarty, who covers the Election Commission for The Hindu.
Host: G. Sampath
Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian
Camera: Jude Francis Weston
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