Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen on Friday expressed concerns over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying that a better system cannot be created by trampling on the rights of the poor.
Sen warned that the SIR exercise, like the one being carried out in Bihar, could end up "disenfranchising" a large number of poor and marginalised people if not handled sensitively.
"Yes, it's true that from time to time various procedural tasks need to be carried out. However, in doing so, one cannot create a 'better system' by trampling on the rights of the poor," news agency PTI quoted Sen as saying.
According to Sen, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998, many people in India don't have documents.
"Many people don't have documents. Many cannot vote...If, in the name of trying to improve things a little, harm is caused to many, then that becomes a serious mistake," Sen said, adding, "You cannot justify seven new mistakes just to correct one".
The Bihar SIR controversy
The Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls aims to update and verify the accuracy of electoral rolls, thereby creating clean and error-free lists. The process, being undertaken in Bihar before the upcoming assembly poll, has drawn criticism from political parties and rights activists.
{{/usCountry}}The Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls aims to update and verify the accuracy of electoral rolls, thereby creating clean and error-free lists. The process, being undertaken in Bihar before the upcoming assembly poll, has drawn criticism from political parties and rights activists.
{{/usCountry}}More than 65 lakh enumeration forms were ‘not included’ in the draft electoral rolls prepared as part of the first phase of SIR by the Election Commission (EC) in Bihar, bringing down the total number of around 7.9 crore registered voters to 7.24 crore.
The EC released the names of 65 lakh people who were removed from the draft electoral rolls published as part of the SIR exercise in Bihar. The apex poll body has also given the reason for their
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, is undertaking a ‘vote adhikaar yatra’ in Bihar and has repeatedly spoken on the “errors” in the state's SIR process.