They have their task cut out.
The Indian Express spoke to a dozen BLOs from across the state — including from the capital Patna, Samastipur in North Bihar, Purnea in the Seemanchal region, and Banka in South Bihar. After the month-long SIR exercise, their refrain: most of those who had to submit one of the 11 documents have not been able to do so.
Consider:
* A BLO from the Danapur Assembly constituency said: “Out of 1,200 voters who submitted enumeration forms in my booth, 550 were in the 2003 voters’ list. Of the remaining 650 voters, only about 60 people have submitted forms with one of the 11 documents, mainly Class 10, residential and caste certificates. There has been intense pressure on us to get documents from such electors who have only submitted forms.”
She said the BLOs were still accepting forms from some people. “We are told to accept them until Monday (July 28), as the first electoral draft would be published by August 1.”
Asked if they had been asked to upload one of the 11 documents against the forms during the claims-and-objection phase between August 1 and September 1, she said: “We have heard about it, but there is no clear instruction on how to go about it and what if we do not get any documents from voters in that period.”
* A Banka Assembly seat BLO said: “My booth has about 1,300 voters. Over 500 of them are in the 2003 list. Of the remaining electors, only 50 people have submitted forms along with one of 11 documents. As my uploaded documents’ percentage is very poor, I was asked to get at least 20-30% in the column on ‘status of mandated 11 documents’. I am marking an exaggerated number, assuming I would be able to get the required documents at a later stage. EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) perhaps want to show a good percentage.”
In the 13-column form needed to be filled up by the BLOs before the publication of the first draft of rolls, there is a break-up of details on the 2003 list voters, post-2003 voters with details on documents, numbers of deceased, permanently shifted, and repeated voters. There is also a column on “other documents”.
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The Banka BLO added that his booth had uploaded over 80% of enumeration forms, as a section of migrant voters, mainly permanently shifted, had not turned up to fill up their forms, online or offline.
* A BLO from the Sarairanjan Assembly seat echoed similar views. “My area is dominated by Dalits and EBCs (Extremely Backward Classes). Of 900 voters in my booth, only 400 are in the 2003 rolls. But, only 25 persons have submitted caste or residential certificates so far. Most of them don’t have documents. Some have been waiting for residential certificates. I am even spending money from my pocket for getting photocopies of the 2003 roll entries for its voters,” he said.
* A BLO from Purnea’s Srinagar block said: “It is very difficult to get forms attached with one of the 11 documents. My booth has about 1,000 voters, half of which were on the 2003 list. Despite my area having a better educational status, only 100 people have submitted either Class 10 Board or residential certificates.” He added, “I doubt whether even one extra month’s time to submit the mandated documents could change things much.”
* A BLO in Balrampur block of Katihar said: “Out of 990 electors in my polling booth, about 425 were on the 2003 list. Only about 150 people submitted forms with one of 11 documents, mostly Class 10 board certificates, including from the madarsa board, family registers and passports. About 85 people, either dead or permanently shifted were deleted from the list.”
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* In the Araria block of Araria district, a BLO said: “My booth had 950 voters, including 450 on the 2003 list. About 250 people submitted forms with documents such as residential certificates, passports and land papers. About 220 submitted enumeration forms with other documents. Thirty people, dead or permanently shifted, were dropped from the list.”
* A BLO from Kishanganj said: “Out of about 1,100 voters in my booth, 550 are on the 2003 voters’ list. About 250 people submitted their forms with one of 11 documents including Class 10 board certificates and passports. Only 36 voters, dead or permanently shifted, were deleted from the list.”
* A BLO from Tarapur in Munger said: “Out of 770 voters, 650 filled their forms with or without documents. About 220 were on the 2003 list, and 120 more submitted forms with one of the documents needed, mostly residential and Class 10 certificates. Thirty people, dead or permanently shifted, had to be dropped from the list for publication of the first draft.”
* A BLO from Sasaram Nagar Nigam in Rohtas said: “Out of 1,240 voters, about 440 are on the 2003 voters’ list. About 150 have submitted their enumeration forms with one of 11 documents.”
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* In Bhagwanpur (Kaimur), a BLO said: “The total number of voters in my booth is 1,470, including 500 on the 2003 list. A total of 1,296 forms were submitted but only 20 had one of the 11 documents attached.”
* A BLO in Darbhanga’s Keoti said: “Out of 1,110 voters, 515 are on the 2003 list. About 425 submitted forms with one of 11 documents.”
* A BLO from Sahebpur Kamal in Begusarai said: “Out of 1,005 voters in my booth, 560 are on the 2003 list. About 375 submitted forms with one of the 11 documents.”
As part of the SIR, the EC has deployed 38 DEOs (District Election Officers), 243 EROs, 2,976 AEROs (Assistant EROs) and 77,895 BLOs. An ERO said, “Eventually, we will have to look at land papers, family registers, government scheme beneficiaries’ details to ascertain genuine electors. We do have a column of other documents, which we can consider if EC allows it at some stage.”
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In its counter-affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on July 21 in the matter of various pleas challenging the Bihar SIR, the EC has not accepted the court’s suggestion to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID and ration cards as proof for this exercise.
