De-link SIR from citizenship test, demands convention

A national convention held by civil society organisations in New Delhi on Saturday (December 20, 2025) demanded that the revision of voter lists should be completely de-linked from the determination of citizenship. It sought the restoration of all electors unfairly removed from rolls in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being held across the country and asked that the practice of striking names off the rolls due to non-submission of enumeration forms be stopped from now on.

The convention, organised in the form of a public hearing by the Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan, the People’s Union of Civil Liberties, and the National Alliance for Peoples’ Movements, also resolved to “defend universal adult franchise”. It called for “a time-tested method of house-to-house visit combined with de-duplication software,” to be used for regular revisions of the electoral rolls.

At the convention, held at the Constitution Club of India in Delhi, a jury comprising former Supreme Court judges, academics, activists, and journalists heard testimonies from people adversely affected by the SIR exercise currently underway in 10 States. People from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar spoke at the hearing about how they had been incorrectly declared dead or not informed properly about the enumeration forms.

Those from Chhattisgarh also noted that villagers displaced during Salwa Judum in the State had also been left out of the exercise. Families of booth-level officers (BLOs) who lost their lives in the process of working for the SIR also spoke at the convention, asking questions about why BLOs were being pressured and rushed to complete this exercise.

The Jury that was put together included former Supreme Court Justices (retd.) Madan B. Lokur and A.K. Patnaik, academics Professor Nivedita Menon and Professor Jean Dreze, and journalist Pamela Philipose. In a statement released after the convention, the Yogendra Yadav-led Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan said that the jury “expressed deep reservations about the manner, method and motivation behind the entire SIR exercise”.

While Justice Lokur batted for the Election Commission of India to take the public into confidence at “every step of the process”, Justice Patnaik said that representatives of the poll body ought to have attended the hearing on Saturday (December 20, 2025). He added, “The ill effects of SIR would not stop merely with mass disenfranchisement,” noting that the possible linking of electoral rolls with the Aadhaar database might also lead to citizens being disentitled from various welfare schemes.

Meanwhile, Professor Menon suspected the motives of the government in getting the SIR exercise conducted in this manner.