NRC by another name? EC makes proof of place of birth must in Bihar

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has made it mandatory for voters in Bihar to furnish documentary proof of citizenship as part of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, ahead of assembly elections scheduled later this year. This is the first such revision in the state since 2003.

The move marks a significant tightening of voter verification norms, with the ECI aiming to weed out illegal immigrants from the electoral rolls, a concern particularly acute in Bihar and neighbouring regions prone to cross-border migration.

The process of verification falls in different categories, depending on a person’s date of birth. Persons born before July 1, 1987, have to submit a document establishing their date and place of birth. Those between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004, they must provide, in addition, a document for either of their parents. Those born after December 2, 2004 must also provide documents for both their parents. If any one of the parents is not an Indian citizen, then the passport of the parent in question along with the visa when the person was born.

These requirements broadly mirror the legal provisions for citizenship by birth as outlined in Section 3 of The Citizenship Act, 1955. That law has tightened citizenship by birth on the basis of a person’s date of birth.

The trouble in a vast country like India–one that is surrounded by countries from where illegal migration into has been rampant—the enforcement of these provisions of the law has been lax or has been subverted by illegal migrants acquiring citizenship documents by fraud. The problem is particularly acute in Eastern and North-Eastern India and Bihar falls in this zone of concern.

Revision of electoral rolls in India or their updating often leads to Opposition parties crying foul. The alleged “addition” of voters in the electoral rolls in Maharashtra “just before” the last assembly elections led to a furore by the Congress party. The issued was debunked by the ECI and the latter has now invited the Congress party brass for a discussion on the subject.

From that perspective, the ECI’s move to go in for a SIR in Bihar should assure the Opposition as well as voters-at-large about the integrity of the electoral rolls in the state, perhaps one of the most important aspects of free and fair elections. This is the cornerstone of democracy in India.

Ideally, such documentation should be linked with a person’s Aadhar number. The ECI has made some tentative steps in that direction. But the move has come under legal scrutiny. It is worth examining the grounds on which the ECI’s move to link the unique voter identification—the EPIC card issued by the ECI—with Aadhar has been questioned. The big question is: who benefits from a “looser” identification process? It should also be pointed out that in many cases illegal migrants have successfully used the judicial process to garner benefits—such as education in government schools—something that should not be provided to them. The risk of illegal migrants overwhelming Indian citizens is often laughed at. But one should remember that politics in India is intensely local and the first levels where such dangers emerge are at the local level.

In a fairer India, such revisions would be as tight as the updating of National Register of Citizens (NRC). Non-citizens cannot, and should not, be allowed to acquire the right to vote. Hopefully, the SIR exercise in Bihar will be tight and will weed out non-citizens wherever they are found.

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