Bihar SIR: survey of 338 migrant workers finds that over one-third of them do not have documents sought by EC

Around 68% of the migrant workers from Bihar working in different parts of the country do not have the correct information on the documents required for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls that is currently under way in the State, according to a study. Nearly 35% of them not have any of the 11 documents required for the exercise, the study found.

A phone survey of migrant workers from Bihar was conducted by the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN), a volunteer-driven initiative that was started in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. SWAN, in a statement, said that the survey was conducted among 338 migrant workers from their database from July 19 to July 21 this year.

In the statement, SWAN said that even though their sample “is not a statistically representative survey”, “the findings provide strong evidence of the challenges faced by migrant workers as those who migrate away from home are most susceptible to documentation deficits”.

The Election Commission (EC) is currently in the process of finishing the special intensive revision, which was announced last month, even as the State readies to go to polls no later than November this year. The EC requires that anyone not featuring in the 2003 electoral rolls must submit one of 11 documents such as birth certificate, school-leaving certificate, caste certificate, passport, etc. This list does not include documents like Aadhaar, voter id, or PAN cards, which are accepted while applying for most of the 11 prescribed documents.

SWAN said that it found that among the respondents, there were 248 individuals who were residing elsewhere. Of this, 75% “had not even heard of the online portal to submit the enumeration form for SIR”, adding that they found just two of these people had submitted the forms online. Further, it found that out of 333 respondents, 53% said that an official had visited their homes in Bihar for the SIR, 23% said no official had visited their homes, and about 24% said they were not aware if officials had visited their homes.

Even among those who reported that officials visited their homes, around 45% said that the officials collected the forms with a copy of their Aadhaar card or voter ID, and 29% reported that the forms were collected with one of the prescribed 11 documents.

The survey further reported finding that Aadhaar and voter id were the most commonly available documents with the respondents, with 96% reporting having an Aadhaar and 84% reporting having a voter id.

Among the respondents who did have one of the 11 prescribed documents, 46% reported having a matriculation certificate, 39% said they had caste certificates, 30% said they had domicile certificates and 39% reported having their birth certificates. The SWAN phone survey concluded that anyone having even one of these documents is likely to have a few more of the prescribed documents.

SWAN said the survey’s findings “establishes more evidence” that the SIR exercise in Bihar is “mired in chaos”.

It went on to say, “Contrary to official claims, the majority have not heard of the online system. Notwithstanding the impracticality of such a hasty exercise, the interaction with the migrant workers leads us to believe that SIR exercise will disenfranchise millions of people in Bihar. This further pushes us to suggest that the SIR exercise must be revoked without further delay.”