In Bihar’s SIR Drive, Many BLOs Collect Only Aadhaar and Photograph, Ignoring Other Documents
Maner, Bihar: On a scorching afternoon, a distraught Muslim man approaches local ward councillor Tausif Khan and complains that his wife’s Aadhaar card details have been filled in his enumeration form. He introduces himself as Mohd Taju (39).
Tausif takes out a form he has with him and asks Taju whether all the columns have been filled in correctly.
When this reporter asks him what documents he has as proof of citizenship, Taju says, “I have an Aadhaar card and kisan card.”
Does he own a birth certificate? He laughs at this question. “I remember my date of birth. I was born in 1986. So, what is the need for a birth certificate?” he asks.
Resident of the Chaar Hazar mohalla (neighbourhood) of Maner – about 35 kilometres away from Patna, Taju works at a stationary workshop, where he makes copies. He earns Rs 500 per day. His wife too has no other documents except an Aadhaar card.
When pointed out that he may face problems for not having one of the 11 listed documents that the Election Commission (EC) is accepting as proof of citizenship in its ‘special intensive revision’ (SIR) of the voter roll in the state, Taju says: “What will happen if it [my name] is deleted [from the voter roll]? Is the government feeding us? And if Aadhaar is not accepted, then why did the government force us to make it?”
“Chalis baras hamara hone wala hai. Meri nani abhi zinda hain aur 100 saal ki hone wali hai. Ab bataiye ki aur kaise sabit karenge ki Bharat ke nagarik hain? [I am about to turn 40 years old, my grandmother is still alive and she is about to turn 100. Now tell me how else will I prove that I am a citizen of India].
Taju angrily asks, “Kya hum bahar ke hain [Are we from outside India]?”
Aadhaar, MGNREGA and voter cards are not among the EC’s 11 listed documents, although the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the poll body to consider accepting these documents during the SIR after hearing a batch of petitions seeking a stay on the contentious SIR.
Khan says that he has constantly been getting calls and WhatsApp messages from people about the SIR process.
He says, “We are getting calls and WhatsApp messages from everyone. But [we are getting more of them] from Muslims, because they are more apprehensive. They are calling even at 12 in the night and complaining that they have not received the enumeration form yet.”
“Muslims feel that this is the National Register of Citizens,” he says.
Although he is not a booth-level officer (BLO), Khan is doing the work of one so that people are not left out from the voter roll. He is getting people to fill enumeration forms, retrieving the information of those who have lost their voter cards from the EC’s website, and is also contacting voters living abroad.
“If the names of voters from our area are deleted due to their not filling the form, then my vote bank will be cancelled, so I have to handle it myself,” he says, referring to his prospective voters during the next ward-level elections.
He believes that time is running short and people will not be able to get the desired documents from relevant departments. “With the kind of documents the EC is asking for, I think if the deadline is not extended, 50% of voters will lose their names [from the voter roll].”
Adjacent to this Muslim mohalla is Dalit colony Gadhpar, where a few people are sitting beneath a tree. Among them is 33-year-old Bhim Kumar, who has neither a birth certificate, nor land documents, nor a caste or residential certificate.
He has only an Aadhaar card proof of identity. His BLO also took only an Aadhaar card and a photo while filling his enumeration form.
When this reporter told him that the EC has made it mandatory to submit one of 11 documents and that he may face problems if these documents are not available with him, he becomes angry.
“Voter list se naam kat jayega hi to kya ho jayega? Hum vote daalein ya nahi daalein isse kya fark padega? [What will happen if the name is deleted from the voter list? What difference will it make whether we cast our vote or not?]”
Bhim Kumar is a daily wage labourer and landless. He comes from the Paswan community, which is categorised as a Scheduled Caste.
He explains why he believes nothing will change even if his name is deleted from the voter list. He says, “I do not get any benefit from government schemes even though I am a voter … I will not get any benefit if my name is deleted. So, what will change for me?”
The EC has said in its instructions that electors whose names do not figure in the voter list of 2003 – produced after the last SIR – will have to submit any one of the 11 documents and, depending on the individual’s year of birth, details of their parents’ proof of citizenship (along with their elector photo ID card numbers if they are available).
Meanwhile, the EC has published a pamphlet saying that voters can submit the necessary documents to their BLO along with their enumeration form if they have them. Voters can also submit just their enumeration form if they do not have any of the required documents, the EC’s pamphlet says.
Ironically, many BLOs are not asking for any of the 11 desired documents.
Thirty-five-year-old Mantu Kumar has a birth certificate, which is one among the 11 desired documents, but the BLO has not taken it from him. “I have both a caste certificate and birth certificate, but the BLO has only taken my Aadhaar card and photo from me,” Mantu told The Wire.
Like Mantu, 30-year-old Shashi Paswan also has a caste certificate and a birth certificate, but the BLO has not asked for these documents from him. He says only Aadhaar card details were taken from him too.
Forty-five-year-old Surendra Rai’s children’s names are in the new voter list revised in January and he also has the desired documents, but no document other than a Adhaar card has been asked from him.
On being told that an Aadhaar card is not valid as a proof of citizenship, he says, “We have heard in the news that the EC has lost the case in the Supreme Court and now the Aadhaar card has become valid.”
There are about 1,300 voters in this locality of Maner, which includes Yadavs, Muslims and Dalits. But local ward member Sanjeev Kumar says that only 300 forms have been filled here so far.
He says that 95% of people here will not have the kind of documents the EC is asking for and that BLOs are also not informing the people about this.
“Later, when the verification will be done, there will be a huge crowd in the government offices and there will be a stampede-like situation among the people,” he says.
The SIR began on June 25 and the deadline for the submission of enumeration forms is July 25.
A BLO told The Wire on the condition of anonymity: “We are currently tasked with getting enumeration forms filled up. Verification and the collection of valid documents may start after that.”
Sanjeev Kumar is a BJP supporter but believes that it [the SIR] will impact the saffron party’s prospects in the upcoming assembly election. “This will not benefit the public; rather, the people will suffer a loss because their names will be deleted from the voter list, and this way the BJP is going to suffer. BJP sarkar ne apne tang par kulhadi maar liya hai. [The BJP government has dug its own grave].”
