Enrolling Electors - Bihar SIR

 

Elector Enrollment- Special Intensive Review

A Few Dots: ECI to begin Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls in Bihar: House-to-House verification to be done to ensure enrolment of all eligible Citizens. *While conducting the special revision, the ECI shall be scrupulously adhering to the Constitutional and legal provisions: Article 326 & Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. *Now, to ensure complete transparency, it would be necessary that the documents on the basis of which, such satisfaction of ERO is arrived at, are also uploaded in ECINET as the current level of technology enables so. (Posted On: 24 JUN 2025 7:38PM by PIB Delhi)

 

ECI Letter to The Chief Election Officer Bihar: CC: Chief Secretary of Bihar 24th June 2025, No.23/2025-ERS (Vol.11) *Requires that ….”Any person whose name is not recorded in the 2003 Electoral Roll shall for the purpose of registration in the electoral roll is required to submit from amongst a wide range of eligible government documents as prescribed for establishing their eligibility to be an elector”. *And notes that …. “Since the existing Electoral rolls were published on 06.01.2025 under Special Summary Revision, and continuously updated since then….” * On the Page 19, ECI Letter lists an Indicative (not exhaustive) list of documents to be submitted …self attested documents” ------------------------------------------- An Indian Whispers: The list does not include Aadhaar card, PAN and driving license, generally used across India as ID proofs. This raised antennas … *The General Election 2024 were conducted on the basis of ER dated 1st Jan 2024: Why go back 2022 years and indulge in a very expensive exercise.

 

Curiously: A “New Voters’ to be given an EPIC is required to submit along with Form 6 all those documents listed on Page 19 above, including Aadhar card as Proof of Identity, Proof of Age and Proof of Residence.    *The UIDAI, the authority that issues Aadhar card requires the very same documents, as proof of identity, Age and Residence, AND accepts Voter ID Card. -------------------------------------------------------------------    An Indian Whisper: New Voters in Haryana or Tamil Nadu can use Aadhar card as Proof of Age & Residence:  This courtesy is not extended to Bihar electors!

 

A Few Dots: The EC having asserted that …. ‘Since the existing Electoral rolls were published on 06.01.2025 under Special Summary Revision, and continuously updated since then…” *The Commission explained Aadhaar and ration cards, while accepted as supporting documents, could not be treated as conclusive proof of citizenship under the Aadhaar Act and existing law. *Among the various reasons listed by the ECI for this exercise at the eleventh hour were “... rapid urbanization, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths and inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants.” (EPW - Vol. 60, Issue No. 29, 19 Jul, 2025)     ------------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: There is no Proof of Citizenship: as none is issued by Government of India.

 

Use of Current Level of Technology:  

And Key- Technological Initiatives of ECI *The ECI has been proactive in introduction and use of Technologies that have made the Election Processes, and its management effective; ‘faster, better and cheaper”.  *The EVMs: Microcontroller-based portable device introduced in 1977; piloted in 1982 to modernize elections. *Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP): Launched in 2009 to promote voter education, awareness, and literacy.  *cVIGIL App (2018): Introduced in 2018 to let citizens report Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations.  *Introduction of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT): Introduced in 2013 for a verifiable paper trail, enhancing transparency.  *National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP): Launched in 2015 to create error-free and authenticated electoral rolls.    *ECI is well regarded Internationally, and is a founding member of the A-WEB and CEN.

 

A Dot: *Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying for its 20th Livestock Census used tablets computers, to collect highly granular data about the Indian Livestock – The Pashu-dhan of 27 Crores of households and non-households. *The National Informatics Centre (NIC) developed the mobile Application software that was used for data collection as well as online transmission of data from the field to the NIC server. (Posted On: 16 OCT 2019 6:26PM by PIB Delhi)

 

And: India's next national census, the 16th will be a digital exercise conducted in two phases, spanning 2026 and 2027, using mobile applications, a first for India. (PIB) *For Census 2027, the enumerators will use their own smartphones, as per the Registrar General of India, and will geo-tag buildings *The Registrar General of India, a unit of Home Ministry has budgeted a huge sum of ₹14,618.95 Cr for this exercise. (Indian Express – Sept 8th 2025)

An Indian Whisper: The Governance System is aggressively using IT and going digital for data collection. So why is ECI turning the clock back by reverting to paper-based enumerations?

 

A Pivotal Dot: After the SIR exercise between June 25 and July 25- a mere 30 days; the ECI reported on 1st Aug 2025, the Bihar voter list of 7.24 Crores, ie. 72.4 million. *The Bihar Voter Roll for General Election 2024 was listed at 7.73 Crore Voters, with reference to 1st January 2024, as the qualifying date.  *SIR has reduced 6.5 million eligible voters in a population growing @1.19% pa. (MoSPI) ----------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: This is daft: ECI should have come back with a tad higher than the GE 2024 rolls.

 

A Desk Assessment of Eligible Voters

A Few Dots: Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar and became a functioning reality on 15th November 2000, as the 28th state of India. *In Census 2011, the population of Bihar was counted at 104,099,452.000 (3rd Jan 2011) i.e. (10.41 Crores). *As per the report of the Technical Group by the National Commission, the population of Bihar is projected to be 131.04 million, or 13.104 crore, as of July 1, 2025. (MoSPI)

 

A Compute: Constitutionally, all surviving citizens of Bihar who were born 18 years ago must appear on the Electoral Rolls, i.e. est. population of Bihar in 2006 -07.   *Projections suggest Bihar's population was ~8.7 -9.0 Crore (87 -90 million) in 2007. *Population of India increased @ rate of 1.14% p.a between 2011 and 2021, and Bihar @1.19%. (O/o Registrar General of India- July 2020)

 

Comments on Bihar Rolls: ECI has reported… zero additions to the electoral rolls. This is not an intensive revision but an intensive deletion exercise. (Yogendra Yadav, Aug 19,2025, Indian Express) And: *In a country whose population is growing by 0.89 per cent annually, any revision of electoral rolls must result in increasing the number of voters, but SIR in Bihar has had the opposite effect. (P Chidambaram, August 17, 2025, Indian Express)

 

AND:  *Emboldened by its ‘independence’, and the unwillingness of the two presiding officers to allow a discussion in the two Houses of Parliament, the ECI pretends to be a ‘Court’ and demands affidavits and oaths! (P Chidambaram, August 17, 2025, Indian Express)   *The ECI’s actions betray the vision of an independent body charged with conducting ‘free and fair elections. It has chosen the path of exclusion under the garb of efficiency. (04 Aug 2025, 6:28 pm -The Leaflet)

 

A Mangers’ Musings: It is counter institutive to expect that Bihar will host substantial number of “foreign illegal immigrants” who voting in concert will tip the election results *It is the poorest state, (Data tabled in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Ministry; in 2023-24).   *Bihar with ~9% of National Population accounts for ~20% of Internal migrants (UP is tad higher) And: The EAC-PM report, that surveyed the unreserved travellers in trains in 2023, found that … the top destinations for Bihar migrants being Delhi, West Bengal, UP and Maharashtra – a pattern that mirrors those in the 2011 Census. And: An ILO/IHD Delhi report in 2024, found that in 2021, 39% of Bihar’s migrants cited employment as the reason for leaving the state: Bihar ranked last in India on the “employment condition index”. *This report also shows that Bihar ranked last when it came to employment levels for educated youth aged 15 to 29 years. (Anjishnu Das, New Delhi | Updated: April 27, 2025 – Indian Express) Above All: The Periodic Labour Force Survey by the NSO of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has consistently shown that the “Employment Rate” in Bihar is about half the National level. (Digital Labour Chowk -August 7, 2025)

 

The Election Commission of India- It’s Role & Conduct

A Few Dots: Constitutional, Statutory, and Quasi-judicial bodies are key components of the country's governance and legal framework. *Constitutional bodies ensure the democratic functioning of the country; Statutory bodies provide regulatory oversight; Quasi-judicial bodies serve as specialized adjudicatory forums. *Together, these bodies contribute to the effective governance and legal framework of India: Ensuring the rule of law, and: Protecting the rights and interests of its citizens.

 

And: The Constitution envisages the Election Commission (ECI) as an independent body that is responsible for conducting free and fair elections.  *Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had stated that for elections to be free in the real sense of the word, they should be taken out of the hands of the government of the day.1  *The appointment of the CEC and ECs under Article 324 is subject to a law made by Parliament. *The Supreme Court (2023) noted that the Constituent Assembly intended to provide for an independent Election Commission whose appointment is regulated by law and not decided by the Executive. (https://prsindia.org/billtrack/prs-products/prs-legislative-brief-4256)

 

And: The Objective Statement of the “Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1989, that reduced the voting age from 21 years to 18 years: *“The present-day youth are literate and enlightened and the lowering of the voting age would provide to the unrepresented youth of the country an opportunity to give vent to their feelings and help them become a part of the political process. The present-day youth are very much politically conscious. It is, therefore, proposed to reduce the voting age from 21 years to 18 years.”

 

But: The ECI conduct now, 36 years later, may have belied the Parliamentary intent by excluding the young (angry?) part of the electorate, which should be far more “politically conscious”: (but that was the 9th Lok Sabha: We are in 18th now). ------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: In a perverse way the ECI may have done a service to the cause of Democracy, waking up many to the dangers of subversion of Indian Institutions.

 

Legal Sequence of Events

A Few Dots: In May 2023, a 5-Judge Constitution Bench held that a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India will advise the President on ECI appointments. *The Executive arm of the GoI responded with “The CEC and Other Election Commissioners Bill, 2023” replacing the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991.   *The CEC and ECs will be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of a Selection Committee, which will consist of the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and Leader of Opposition/leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha. An Indian Whisper: A GAAR Moment for the current administration: GAAR had drastic consequences for the Indian telecom sector and the wider economy: The CEC Bill will do that for the Indian Democracy.

 

A Scholarly Critique: The CEC Bill, in our opinion, reflects political impulsiveness.  *Successive suggestions, by Dinesh Goswami Committee Report (1990), and the 255th Law Commission Report (2015), to establish a “Collegium” for EC appointments, have not been put into effect in the CEC Bill: bringing us back to square one. *The introduction of the CEC Bill before the Parliament has laid to rest a legislative vacuum that persisted for more than 7 decades. Since the CEC Bill is still at a nascent stage, it is a bleak hope that the Bill does not translate into an Act in the same form. (Excerpted from The CEC and ECs Bill: A Critique 11 Oct 2023 -Shubham Sehgal and Saksham Chaturvedi*)

 

The Passage of CEC Bill 

Timeline: The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service And Term of Office) Bill, 2023, was introduced in Rajya Sabha on August 10, 2023. *The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (11th Dec 2023) passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioner/s with the opposition members strongly protesting its provisions and staging a walkout. (Dec 12, 2023, 19:11 IST – Times of India) *On 21st Dec 2023, the Lok Sabha passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) ...with 143 opposition members having been ‘expelled’ (Dec 21, 2023 Editor...www.scconline.com)

 

Curiously: Mr Meghwal (Minister of Law & Justice) said a new clause, 15(A), has been added to the bill, which specifies that no civil or criminal proceedings can be initiated against the CEC and the ECs in the discharge of their official duties. (NDTV.Com: Sunil Prabhu India News Dec 12, 2023 14:56 pm IST) -------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: Assuring ECs that they should go ahead with the planned ‘misdeeds’ as they now have full legal protection?

 

And: President Draupadi Murmu has given her assent to a bill that seeks to put in place a mechanism for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, according to a government notification issued on December 29. (the Hindu - December 29, 2023 06:51 pm IST - New Delhi)

 

The ECI Team -Post the Bill

Shri Gyanesh Kumar: He took charge as Election Commissioner on 15th of March, 2024. During his tenure as Election Commissioner, elections were held for the 18th Lok Sabha, State/UT Assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and NCT of Delhi. The CEC: *He was elevated to take ccharge as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India on 19th February 2025. *He has B.Tech. degree llT Kanpur: has studied Business Finance from lCFAl, and Environmental Economics from HllD, Harvard University, USA. (NDTV - Feb 18, 2025 00) --------------------------------------------------------------- A Manager’ Discomfort: Having been trained in three of the top educational institutions of the world, is the CEC is using his highly sophisticated ‘mind’ in the service of the Constitution?

 

And: The other two Election Commissioners, are also highly educated and accomplished individuals. *Shri Sukhbir Singh Sandhu was Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, from July 2021 to January 2024. He has an MBBS from Govt Medical College, Amritsar and an MA from Guru Nanak Dev University. *Shri Vivek Joshi was Chief Secretary of Haryana from 1st Nov 2024 till Feb 2025. He is B.Tech. Degree from IIT, Roorkee, an MBA from IIFT Delhi, and has a doctorate in Internal Economics. --------------------------------------------------------------- A Manager’ Discomfort: Having served in “Double Engine Sirkars” their loyalties may yet be in the process of being shifted to the Constitution; the imperatives of their newly acquired position.

 

A Few Dots: The ECI, a Constitutional Body, is manned by 3 commissioners and 30 senior officers, some are PhDs. The Commission is also assisted by 3 high powered consultants. *Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar is manned by 3 IAS officers and 8 other senior officers. *The Chief Secretary of Bihar has 5 very senior IAS Officers, while the Chief Minister is assisted by 12 Senior Principle and Private Secretaries.  *In sum 61 Senior Officers must have been in the loop along with the political leadership of Bihar, and the Union of India.

 

A Manager ‘Rant: Most among the ECI, Bihar upper echelons and the Union Government, being highly experienced and senior functionaries (100’s of them) would have known and anticipated the anti-people design of SIR. *Our Governance architecture has over the years become Top Heavy: Offices cramped with many who keep pushing files to each other – a musical chair of files! ----------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: Obviously, these 100’s of worthies, the cream de’ al crème of the India chose not to object to the design and antediluvian processes of SIR, Bihar?

 

A Piquant Question: The Rashtrapati and her secretariat must also have known that “The CEC and Other Election Commissioners Bill, 2023” militates against the letter and spirit of the Constitution. *The Rashtrapati is the final and ultimate custodian of the Constitution.

 

And: This bill, sponsored by Ministry of Law & Justice was assented to by the Rashtrapati on 28th Dec 2023. (https://www.rashtrapatibhavan.gov.in/central-bills?page=5 Entry #52) And: The President is assisted by 3 Secretaries, 22 Senior Officers in Admin wing, to deliberate and decide on the Constitutional Compliance in letter and spirit of any proposed measure/ Bill.    *Additionally, S/he and her team can and must seek advice from the Supreme Court and Attorney General.    ---------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: Again, the Cream de la cream of India shortchanging “We the People”?

 

But: On 2 January 2024, within days, a few concerned citizens were alarmed enough and a case for stay of the Bill was filed in The Supreme Court. *The case is pending as on: July 24, 2025 (SCO-online) ------------------------------------------------------------ An Indian Whisper: Is the SC miffed at its orders being reversed by the Bill: Or to avoid another confrontation with the Executive?

 

ECI Actions Post the Dec 2023 Bill

A Dot: In GE 2024 (April -June) BJP “lost” UP, its bastion (Ram Janma Bhumi?), to Samajwadi Party which wrested 37 seats, while the mighty BJP came second with 33 seats (down from 62 out of 80, in 2019) *In Haryana it had to concede half the seats to Congress/INDIA Bloc, where Assembly Elections were due in Oct 2024 – 4 months down the line. --------------------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: In anticipation of such an eventuality, the Stage for Election Management had been set months ago in Dec 2023.

 

A Few Dots: As of 7 PM, a voter turnout of 61.19% was recorded at the polling stations. In the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, voter turnout of 64.8% was recorded in Haryana at polling stations. (Posted On: 05 OCT 2024 8:34PM by PIB Delhi) * Haryana records voter turnout of 61.59%, Congress eyes comeback after a decade. (India Today: New Delhi, UPDATED: Oct 5, 2024 22:11 IST) The Voter turnout (In Haryana Assembly Elections) was 61.19% at the end of Voting Day – 5th Oct 2024 (NDTV News Desk : Oct 05, 2024 23:47 pm IS)   And Then: * A voter turnout of 67.9% has been recorded across the 90 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in the Haryana Assembly Elections 2024, reflecting significantly higher voter response compared to last Lok Sabha elections which recorded 64.8% voting in the state. (Posted On: 07 OCT 2024 8:46PM by PIB Delhi) *Revised Voter Turnout inflated by a hefty 6.71% (over 13 Lakh votes, added to 125 Lakh vote cast by a Voter Strength of 203 Lakh on 5th Oct 2024: Est Haryana Population -in 2024 ~310 Lakh) *BJP won 48 seats out of the 90, enabling it to form the Government in Haryana. * Haryana 2024 elections are a close affair, margin less than 5000 votes in 17 seats (The Hindu - Updated - October 08, 2024 07:42 pm IST) – --------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: The ‘infection’ of the last ‘upright’ Constitutional Body was in action; in full flow.

 

And: *The pattern follows up in J&K (Aug 2024) Jharkhand (Nov 2024) and Maharashtra (Nov 2024), and Delhi (Feb 2025)  *Concealing the actual votes polled in the EVMs before the start of counting, a window is left for manipulation. *It is pertinent to note that earlier until 2019 the final figure of EVM votes polled used to vary very little after the close of polls on the polling day. (VFD Report)

 

And ECI increases “Opacity”: ECI which has been charged with ensuring “free and fair elections” acted thus: *Prashant Bhushan, said the searchable draft roll was taken offline on August 4, (2025). *No official of ECI other than the Commissioners have their Email-ID listed on ECI website : Only election@eci.gov.in (Go figure!)    *ECI refuses to provide machine readable Voter lists with full data: It took Congress six months to analyse the truck load of physical lists. (The LoP of India)   *ECI does not provide ‘number of votes polled’ – only voting percentages. (ECI Website) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: Recall the recalcitrance of SBI in providing data on Electoral Bonds, -March 2024.

 

A Few Critical Dots: *India's Election Commission (ECI), one of the most trusted public institutions in the world's largest democracy, is facing a test of its credibility. *India's Election Commission (ECI), one of the most trusted public institutions in the world's largest democracy, is facing a test of its credibility. (23rd Aug 2025: Nikhil Inamdar, BBC News, Mumbai) *SIR has sparked genuine fears of widespread disenfranchisement because of the way it is being conducted. In a break from the past, the SIR shifts the burden of proof on to the voters and it seems to be more an exercise of exclusion than inclusion. (Editorial -Indian Express- August 19, 2025 07:00 AM IST) *A statistical analysis by The Hindu of reveals patterns that suggest a flawed process that prioritised haste over accuracy, risking the removal of legitimate voters. (The Hindu: Editorial Updated - September 10, 2025 01:12 am IST) *The VFD team of experts and legal analysts have scrutinised the ECI’s own data and come up with “The ECI appeared to be in a hurry over the last days of the SIR exercise to complete the first phase of pre-determined and desired number of deletions. *And, The ECI claims that no deletion occurs without a prior notice and hearing. However, with 65 lakh deletions across 243 constituencies, this would mean conducting an average of 26,748 hearings per constituency within a month—a logistical impossibility that casts serious doubt on procedural compliance. (As reported in Sabrang India: August 12, 2025)

 

The Role Reversal: It would be funny if not sinister, in its import for our Governance Systems (and for Indian Nation):    *The fondly and reverentially remembered CEC (head of single member EC then) Thiru T N Seshan said "I am not the CEC of the Govt of India I am the CEC of India". *And during his tenure, 1990-96, he had initiated the process of cleaning up the electoral system, that made political parties run for cover and fall in line.  *Cut to 2023- 2025: The Current regime is providing legal cover to a three-member ECI to commit unlawful acts with immunity in favour of the current Govt of India: Not India. ……………………………………………. An Indian Whisper: Saket Gokhale demanded (well -deserved) Bharat Ratna for TN Seshan, saying he upheld the independence and dignity of the Election Commission. (ET 18th Mar, 2025)

 

A Managers Rant: It is abundantly clear that EVMs, once installed as per the ECI processes, cannot be hacked. *But those manning the election processes ARE Hacked: As they were, when paper-ballots were used. *All political parties blame the EVMs after losing, and demand going back to ‘Paper’ (probably for improving their abilities to hack elections)  ------------------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: *This thought process probably allows many deviations from the democratic path, such as Electoral Bonds, till it starts to singe some badly enough to ‘cry’.

 

A Conundrum: Why would highly accomplished individuals; Gyanesh Kumar (61 yo), Sukhbir Singh Sandhu (62 yo) and Vivek Joshi (59 yo), having achieved a constitutional position that ensures their place in history, devise ham handed plans and open themselves to public disapprobation and ridicule?  *No Self-doubt? Every human being including Dr Ambedkar whose constitution put these gents on the ECI pedestal, had misgivings about his creation. ------------------------------------------------------ An Indian Whisper: *The Seeds of destruction are inherent in constructions itself and vice-a-versa: A natural law variously enunciated in our Bhartiya Darshan.

 

A Qutub View of Our Governance Systems

A Few Unshakable Dots: We humans, the natural persons have since time immemorial created and crafted organisations -legal entities- to serve a purpose of the group, community, or a settlement.    *Such organisations, big or small must be manned in a “Structure & System”; devise “Processes” to ‘push’ for achieving the stated ‘objective/s’: And incentives that are adequate to create the ‘pull’. *These may or may not be written down; and are called ‘vision statement’ or Constitution of the organisation.

 

And: “We the People” adopted the Constitution for India that is Bharat on 26th Jan 1950, “assuring the dignity of individual and unity of the Nation”. *The Constituent Assembly created three organs of the State as per the Democratic System: Legislatures, Executive & Judiciary – both at Centre and States. *The Head of State (Rashtrapati) as the upholder and protector of the Constitution.   *The CA also created four Constitutional Bodies that derive their authority directly from the Constitution and therefore are independent of the other three organs of the State. (Media, now seen as the Fourth Pillar of Democracy, was in its infancy back in 1946-49.)

 

And: The Structure and Systems of governance was informed by “Separation of Powers” among the three organs; and the organizational Processes were designed to provide adequate “checks and balances’ on each other for ensuring the realization of the “Objective” i.e. ‘dignity of individual and unity of the Nation’

 

A Manager’s Rant: The impossibly long queues (80 crores out of 145 Crore!) to receive monthly doles of rice and wheat and freebies, the ‘revdis’. *The long and inexorably lengthening queues at the doors of Judiciary; and horrendous legal costs deter most from seeking justice: And Powerful dare their victims “jaa court se le le”. * The Objective of “Dignity of Individual” is crushed under the boots of powerful who have managed to create an impregnable moat around themselves: Moat of entitlement, merit, and corruption.

 

And: We boast of the world's lengthiest written constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules at the time of commencement. *And it has gone bigger over these last 75 years: Now the Constitution of India has 448 articles in 25 parts and 12 schedules. ----------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: Juxtaposing this phenom with the “Gap” indicates that the Law-making processes are at odds with the Constitutional Objectives.

 

 

A Managers’ Ruminations: Over the years one could discern a divergence between the “Objectives of the Governance System” and the “Objectives of the State”. *The Governance System – the three organs of the State +Media are now fully occupied with preserving and strengthening themselves, even as they squabble among themselves. *The Objectives of the State that inform the Constitution, on the other hand are to nurture and serve the Indian Citizens- to help build their capacities and capabilities for “a pleasant journey thru life”.

 

And: This “Gap’ appeared and has been widening since late 1960’ when ‘Gungi Gudiya’ took charge with pressures from the ‘syndicate’ tailing her. *Paraphrasing Prof Zoya Hasan… in early years of the Republic “a deep reservoir of social legitimacy’ was enjoyed by the Governance System: Over the last few decades it has come to depend on “electoral success reinforced by state machinery” and money. (Professor Emerita, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)  *Back in 1975 at IIMA, Prof Pulin Garg would rail at his students (20+ year olds) that we and society are becoming ‘materialistic’: There are far greater human values that must inform our life’s journey.

 

A Few Dots: The Constituent Assembly espoused the “Separation of Powers’ and built-in “checks and balances” between the 3 organs of the State, but ended up conflating the Executive with the “Government”. *To be fair to the CA the management ‘sciences’ did not have a good enough body of work to merit application at scale.  *Dr Ambedkar had his misgivings, and he stated that “However good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good. ----------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: A manager would promptly lose his job for a business plan that comes with such riders!

 

Another Rant: It’s unthinkable that the Constituent Assembly was unaware of the pivotal role Political Parties will have in Democratic Governance. *It conceptualized “People’ Representative” as the only instrumentality thru whom the “People’ Will’ will be expressed and ‘democratic goals’ realised. *However, the concept of ‘political parties’ entered the constitution thru the backdoor in 1980’ via the Anti-Defection Bills. (The beginning of the PRs being turned into the soldiers of Parties: No more People’s Representatives.)   *The CA did not work out a “Code of Conduct’ for MPs and MLAs/MLCs; Or to require any ‘work and results’ for salaries they draw. (The King is above the Law?)

 

A Manager’s Dharma: The current situation was a strong challenge to the managerial acumen of this “Vaanprasthi CXO’. *Over the last 10 years, one has been deeply engaged finding ways in which masses and classes may collaborate to "assure the dignity of individual and unity of nation'. *Last 300 years have seen an inexorable conversion of 'accumulated knowledge' into "Technology" that has eased the 'nasty and brutish' life of masses and classes; and in massive "accumulation of wealth'. *The 'Management Sciences' whose body of work has proliferated over the last 75 years will guide the pathways to actualize the Constitutional Promise.

 

And: It must always be remembered: GOD IS IN DETAILS, that lie in numbers; their ratio & proportions. *These are used by Managers to ensure a firm and level playfields for her teams to perform to the best of their capacities and capabilities to stretch to attain the stated objectives. *The Manager aims to obviate the need for appeals to higher sensibilities: Just keep everyone pointed in the right direction.

 

A Business Plan for Constitutional Governance

A Few Dots: It took eight long years to craft the Structure, Systems and Processes FOR Democratic Governance; and to provide adequate incentives for the ‘Elected & Selected’ functionaries to ‘assure dignity of individual’ and unity of India”. *A set of “Good Governance Practices” emerged that were radical enough to deserve  the title “Factory Resets of Governance Rules” – Democracy FOR the People. *It is a business plan for all the Four Pillars and a blueprint for grooming Democratic Citizens, who will someday take charge as “elected & selected’ (the phrase is owed to Arun Jaitley). It was published in Sept 2023.

 

A Few Unshakable Facts: The Elected & Selected who govern us are ‘Exceptional People’; highly accomplished and cream de la crème of our society, country, and nation.   *They must come from about 4.56 % of a population as postulated by Bell Curve - beyond 3 Sigma limits. (About 65 million Indians who are high-achievers) *Carl Freiderick Gauss during his observations of planetary bodies found a pattern of variations that tended to cluster around an average, and the data follows a bell-shaped curve: As it prevails in Nature everywhere.

 

*The current state of affairs as illustrated in the book- Factory Resets of Governance Rules.

But: To, maintain a lifestyle that is commensurate with their ‘governance functions’ and high status in society, their salaries and perks are horribly inadequate: Try comparing that to salaries paid to a person of equivalent qualifications and seniority in the private sector. *Effects of decisions made by Elected & Selected will invariably be 10x. And: Please compare the horribly high election expenses, in tens of crores to that prescribed by the ECI: For GC 2024: ₹95 Lakh for Lok Sabha & ₹40Lakh for Assembly. (Press Note: No. ECI/PN/02/2022 Dated:  Jan 06, 2022) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Please Note: The same circular goes on to note (… revised limits have now been notified by M/O Law, Justice and Legislative Department, which are as under): The hidden hand of Executive.

 

A Conundrum: But the age old (Gandhian?) belief that the Political workers are expected to do “Seva”^ wear khadi etc.: Only a few beyond 3 sigma ~are driven by such values. *In order to meet the materialistic needs and wants of the most it must surreptitiously extract: The Elected and Selected must control the whole governance ecosystem and create effectives moats (of entitlement, merit and corruption). *The “people’ will’ is expressed thru the “People Representatives’: They must be corralled into “Political Parties’ (An extra-constitutional governance structure).   *The party bosses then control and bend the PRs to the ‘will of the few’ thru money- election funds- favors and whips. ------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: ^ There is NO FREE SEVA: much as there is NO FREE LUNCH.

 

Few Important Governance Resets- From the Book

A Few Dots: The emoluments of Elected and Selected have been factored In at ~₹2.0 Crores p.a. CTG (Cost to the Government) that are subject to taxes that every salaried Indian pays. *The relationship between various levels has been defined: And the Ministers are paid ₹4.5 Crores pa, CTG.

 

And: To Collapse the election Expenses: All Candidates will along with their nomination papers will a “Election Fee” of say ₹50 Lakh for Lok Sabha. *The Election Commission will declare a “Silence Period” of 90 days before the voting date; and organize the platforms in every corner of the constituency from which all candidates will address their electorate.      *Once the nominations are accepted, everyone is a candidate; therefore, all candidates RESIGN their positions, 90 days prior to voting day.    --------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: That then creates a ‘Level Playing Field’ for all candidates.

 

Independence of Constitutional Bodies

A Governance Imperative: The Head of State -the Rashtrapati is the ultimate protector and upholder of the Constitution. *S/he must be alive to the functioning of the three organs of the State, and the developing political, social and economic trends in her domain. *S/he must proactively work to ensure that her government strenuously exerts itself to provide adequate cover to her subjects (paraphrasing Kofi Annan – spoken in the context of 2007 Kenyan Election violence)

 

A Few Resets: S/he will have a RAC (Rashtrapati Advisory Council) and the Up-Rashtrapati, will assist her in ensuring that the three organs of the State function, in accordance with the letter and spirit of Constitution: To achieve “dignity of Individual & Unity of Nation” Reset 1.1: The heads of each of the three organs of the States – legislatures, Executive and the Judiciary, will brief her once a month. (The Governors in the State will have similar roles and responsibilities.)

 

Reset 1.2: The Powers of the State, the Executive having resigned 90 days before the “Voting Day” will be transferred to her/ Governor: And S/he will govern -perform holding-on functions till the next Legislature is constituted and new “Executive’ takes over. *S/he will largely oversee the functioning of the Cabinet Secretariat and the Secretaries of the Maha-Mantralaya (16#) as per the processes detailed in the book – Factory Resets of Governance Rules.

 

Reset 1.3: The Constitutional bodies derive their authority directly from the Constitution. Therefore, they must be under the direct control of the Highest Constitutional Authority, the Rashtrapati. *Up-Rashtrapati, as her deputy will supervise all the Constitutional bodies on her behalf. Reset 1.4: S/he will have access to 5% (say) of the nominal budget of the Central Government (Governors in the States) to pay the Legislators, Constitutional Bodies and Judiciary directly from the CFI, now named Bhartiya Lok Nidhi, to ensure their independence.

 

A Manager’s Reflections: It is clear that ‘separation of powers and checks and balances’ as designed have been systematically undone by the classes: Misgivings expressed by Gandhiji and Ambedkar have come to pass. *Every constitutional position must proactively perform her constitutional function, in letter and spirit: The “Factory Resets … “ have been crafted to do just that.  *No one should lose sight of the fact, that “We the People” pay salaries to, however inadequately, from Rashtrapati down to the peon in the office of the DC in a district of Andaman or Lakshadweep.

 

On Law Making

A Few Dots: Every Lok Sabha since the 1950’ has made 300 additional Laws on average, and the “Accumulated Legal Verbiage” has impressively overloaded the dauntingly huge book shelves of legal offices (to consolidate the power of classes). *The PM formed a committee of Secretaries in 2015/16, who promptly recommended deletion of about 50% of the Union Laws; overlapping State Laws not yet counted.

 

A Few Resets: The “Factory Resets….” has reset the process of Law Making: a) All proposals must go to the Permanent Parliamentary Committee (PPC) overseeing the concerned ministry (Maha-Mantralaya). b) The PPC may after due processing decide to send it to Lok and Rajya Sabha simultaneously, where the measure will be debated under three “Speakers” from three groups: The Treasury, the Opposition and Neutrals, who rotate on monthly basis. *That then will ensure robustness of the Laws: Few and highly desirable. ------------------------- An Indian Whisper: There have been instances of Laws being changed to allow the ships to enter, clear goods at favorable Duty Rates: which then are reversed once the brouhaha starts) Mr Trump is acting in a similar vein ….

 

A Few Pivotal ReOrgs:

Administrative ReOrgs: For ‘Good Governance” the jurisdictional areas of Police, Courts, Administration, and political constituencies must be ‘Same and Congruent’: These are called P’Terroir, J’Terroir and G’Terroir and Admin terroir, in the book.   *Last Delimitation Commission be set up, that decides, limits of (say) 600 Districts; 6,000 Tehsils/ Taluka; 60,000 Blocks and 300,000 Panchayats.

 

And: The Panchayats are constitutionally made the Primary Governance Unit: The Panchayat Complexes will house: A Judicial Unit, and Administrative Unit, a Police Post, a bank branch/ post office and the municipal unit. *Panchayats will function under the control of Taluka Admin …and the chain above.   *A Panchayat will oversee, on average of 5000 Citizens (out of 1500 million Indians). About 1100 to 1200 households. (Imagine the “community connect’) *And the Citizen will go to her Panchayat for ALL her issues /needs, where s/he needs assistance from the government.

 

Importantly: Every Citizen desirous of working for or in the Government, both elected and selected will start her career at the Panchayat: And from this level playing field move up the hierarchy as s/he develops her ‘capacities, capabilities’ over the years.

 

In Sum: The Factory Resets of Governance Rules: The Business Plan has managed to craft a ‘lean and mean’ organisation, and those manning it are motivated, even compelled to by responsive to “We the People” (Better and Faster) And Cheaper: *The Central and State Governments have in sum, collected 17%+/- few bps, of GDP as taxes over the last 30 years. *The Resets will ensure that Governance System does not need more that 15% of GDP going forward (untested : aiming for the number prescribed in our ancient texts).

 

A Penalty: A penalty of ₹1.0 (₹ One only) be imposed on these 61 ECI and Bihar functionaries and the Central functionary, for dishonesty and dereliction of their duties. *The penalty will appear as a separate entry in their monthly salary slip. “I was ordered” cannot be an acceptable defense.

 

Wheeling Back to Voter Lists & SIR

A Few Dots:  Article 324-329 in Part XV of the Constitution of India provides the framework for free and fair elections. *And Article 326 guarantees the right to vote to every citizen above the age of 18 years, unless disqualified by any law.

 

A Dot- Citizen: The Constitution of India provides for a single citizenship for the whole of India. Every person who was at the commencement of the Constitution (26 January 1950) domiciled in the territory of India, and (a) who was born in India, or (b) either of whose parents was born in India, or (c) who has been ordinarily resident in India for not less than five years, became a citizen of India. *The Citizenship Act, 1955 deals with matters relating to acquisition, determination and termination of Indian citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution. (https://knowindia.india.gov.in/profile/citizenship.php) ------------------------------------------------------------------- An Indian Whisper: At the most basic level, a person living within the borders, delineated by Powerful sitting in far off Capitals, must pay (taxes) to receive protection and benefits of ‘public goods.

 

Past Efforts -To Identify Citizens of India

A Few Dots: At the birth of the nation-state(s) in South Asia, the spaces between “us” and “them” were never fixed and common people continued to move across invisible borders as they had, for centuries. *In other words, identifying “enemy, foreigners, migrants, and illegal immigrants” may be debated in the respective capitals: On the ground however, who is temporally, ethnically, and religiously an alien is like trying to separate water and milk.

 

And chronologically: Afte the Kargil War, in 2001, the Idea of issuing a "multi-purpose National Identity Card" (MPNIC) to residents in border villages to combat illegal immigration/terrorism was mooted.  *In 2003, the Citizenship Act, 1955, was amended: And “National Register of Citizens” (NRC) of all Indian citizens was mandated to document all the legal citizens, so that the illegal immigrants can be identified and deported. *In 2006: The Department of Information Technology approved a scheme to issue unique identification numbers to families living Below the Poverty Line (BPL). This was a precursor to the wider Aadhaar program. *January 2009: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was established as an attached office of the Planning Commission. *There was also a project to create “National People’s Register (NPR)” to run alongside Census 2011: But the NPR project clashed with Aadhar /UIDAI project.

 

Enter Technology:

A Few Dots: After three years long deliberations, in January 2009, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was established as a Statutory Body, to provide Aadhar, a unique identity system (UID) for All Indian Citizens. *UIDAI under the leadership of Nandan Nilekeni, a technocrat with world-wide reputation, developed a robust IT Infra enabling to issue the first Aadhar Card, with a 12 digit number on September 29, 2010.  *In 2016 The Aadhaar Act was passed, providing a legal framework: a) A digital identity for residents that uses a set of demographic (DoB, Address) and biometric data (fingerprints and iris scans), b) The Aadhaar number empowers residents of India with a unique identity and a digital platform to authenticate anytime, anywhere; the primary goal being to streamline public service delivery and reduce identity-related frauds. (National Government Services Portal - https://services.india.gov.in/service/detail/unique-identification-authority-of-india-uidai

 

And: Since then the UIDAI has achieved almost full coverage by providing and maintaining 140 Crore Aadhar Cards. *UIDAI spends almost ~₹1500 Crores annually, i.e. 20,000 Croes has been spent by “We the People” so far. (UIDAI _Dashboard)

 

A Dot: In 2016, World Bank Chief Economist Paul Romer called Aadhaar “the most sophisticated ID programme in the world. (Wikipedia)

 

ECI Imperatives: Revisions of Voter Lists

A Few Dots: In July 1947 itself, the Constituent Assembly had decided to grant voting rights to every citizen aged 21 or older; a bold commitment to universal adult suffrage for a young nation. *The CA developed the eligibility criteria: a) voters had to be Indian citizens, b) at least 21 years old as of January 1, 1949, and residents of a village or electoral unit for at least 180 days in the year ending March 31, 1948. *The rolls were organised village-wise to facilitate later segregation into constituencies, once the boundaries were defined, (which finally occurred in 1956). *Since about 15 million people were displaced (~half either way) the States were advised to include these individuals based on a simple declaration of their intent to reside permanently in India, regardless of their actual residency period. *However, The final delimitation report by the Election Commission was completed by August 1951, and the last rolls published on November 15, 1951. *The final electoral rolls included 17.32 crore voters (excluding J&K), approximately 49 per cent of the country’s population of 35.67 crore (excluding J&K). With an adult population (over 21 years of age) of about 18.03 crore, the enrolment was nearly 96 per cent. *Even in the face of the most daunting challenges, the EC had thus pulled off the electoral rolls exercise, taking utmost care to ensure that no eligible voter was left out. (Shyamlal Yadav July 13, 2025 02:27 PM IST The Indian Express)

 

And: The ECI processes for preparing electoral rolls developed and improved along with the fledgling Nation. *Between 1952 -56, the ECI developed and followed a phased, rotating intensive revision strategy: one-fifth of each state was covered annually.    *By the 1980s, there was a growing focus on preventing the inclusion of ineligible voters, in the electoral rolls and guarding against duplicate entries.   *The ECI then firmly articulated the principle of ‘no deletion’ without a due process: the burden of proof lay with the person objecting to the inclusion. *In 1993 Elector’s Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) were introduced under Rule 28 of the Registration of Electors Rules-to capture additional data of the electors. *The quality of the rolls improved, but with the rising administrative costs the ECI gradually moved towards summary revisions, and occasionally to “intensive methods’ (Updated: July 11, 2025 12:27 PM IST (Indian Express)

 

Identifying “Illegals”

A Few Dots: All foreign nationals, including those who enter into the country without valid travel documents or overstay beyond the validity of their visa period, are governed by the provisions contained in The Foreigners Act, 1946, *The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 & The Citizenship Act, 1955, and rules and orders made thereunder govern this process. *Exemptions are given from the provisions of The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946 on a case-to-case basis. (11 AUG 2021 6:14PM by PIB Delhi -Policy on Illegal Migrants)

 

And: Since independence in 1947, India has been a major destination for individuals fleeing persecution, poverty, and political instability from neighbouring countries. *India’s geostrategic location, democratic ethos, and relatively strong economic condition have attracted waves of migrants and refugees from regions such as Tibet, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, and particularly Bangladesh. (Sanjeev Tripathi - - India Foundation -1st May 2025: IPS officer, and (Ex) Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

 

Internationally

China: One of the most cited figures is that there are as many as 100,000 Africans in Guangzhou, many of whom are illegal overstayers. There are also reports of illegal migrants from countries like North Korea, Mongolia, and others, with their numbers unquantified. USA: The number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States reached an all-time high of 14 million in 2023 after two consecutive years of record growth-( 4.2% of its population). (Pew Research Centre) Europe: Latest available international migrant stock data (2020) show that nearly 87 million international migrants lived in Europe. (11.6% of 2020 Population of 749 M). *The current global estimate is that there were around 281 million international migrants in the world in 2020, which equates to 3.6% percent of the global population. (IOM- UN Migration Report 2024)

 

India: It is often contended that India is a country with the most "illegal" or undocumented immigrants, primarily due to a large population of Bangladeshi immigrants, estimated to be at least 20 million (Wikipedia). (1.5% of our population) *The National Registration of Citizens (NRC) report released in Assam on August 31, 2019, in compliance with the 1985 Assam Accord, has identified over 1.9 million illegal immigrants in Assam, of which around seven lakhs are Muslims and the rest are non-Muslims. (Population of Assam - 2019 – 34.42 million est.: in 2025 37.3 million est.) (5.52% of population)

 

On the Other Hand: India has the world’s largest diaspora: over 35 million people. (2.5% of our population). *And each year, around 2.5 million Indians leave the country in search of better air, better jobs, and better governance. --------------------------------------------------------------- An India Whisper: Capable people risk crossing borders to head towards rich economies: Poor people of the Indian Subcontinent however cross borders in search of just ‘food’.

 

A Piquant Note: India is hosting Sheikh Hasina a political Bangladeshi, inspite of many extradition requests; resultantly, Hindus in Bangladesh die or migrate in face mob ire.

 

A Question: The ECI cannot be ignorant of the history of and the issues involved in identifying “Citizens’/illegals. Why would it then embark such an implausible project, in June -July 2025?

 

Aadhar & The Electoral Roles

The ECI Imperatives: ECI has to deal with issues like duplicate entries, incorrect details, and exclusion of eligible voters (Local officials and politicians).  *Voter bribery and booth capturing that disrupt fair elections (men on the ground). *Protecting voters, candidates, and officials in politically sensitive areas.

 

A Dot: The legal foundation for connecting the two identification systems was established through the Election Laws (Amendment) Act of 2021, notified on December 29, 2021. The legislation amended Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act 1950, empowering electoral registration officers to “require” Aadhaar numbers from both prospective and existing voters to establish their identity. (By Abhishek Angad, Aditi Agrawal, Updated on: Mar 16, 2025 07:13 am IST – Hindustan Times)

 

A Dot:  Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's proposed meeting with top government functionaries on linking voter ID with Aadhaar is part of proactive steps being taken by the poll panel to resolve "legacy issues" pending for the past 25 years, officials said on Monday. Amid the opposition's allegations of fudging of electoral rolls data, Kumar has convened a meeting on Tuesday with the Union home secretary and the legislative secretary to discuss the issue of linking voter identity cards with Aadhar. (PTI Last Updated: Mar 17, 2025, 08:00:00 PM IST – Economic Times)

 

And: The Election Commission of India led by CEC Shri Gyanesh Kumar along with ECs Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi held a meeting with the Union Home Secretary, Secretary Legislative Department, Secretary MeitY and CEO, UIDAI and technical experts of the ECI in Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi today. *While, as per the Article 326 of the constitution of India, voting right can only be given to a citizen of India; Aadhaar card only establishes the identity of a person. *Therefore, it was decided that the linking of EPIC with Aadhaar will be done only as per the provisions of Article 326 of the constitution, Section 23(4), 23(5) and 23(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and in line with the Supreme Court judgement in WP (civil) No. 177/2023. Accordingly, technical consultations between UIDAI and the technical experts of ECI are to begin soon. (Posted On: 18 MAR 2025 5:47PM by PIB Delhi)

 

An Important Dot: ECI issued a Press Note on 20th Mar 2025, headlining that ECI charts out bold steps towards strengthening Election Processes during past one month. *Digital training planned for continuous capacity augmentation of nearly One Crore Election Officials…etc. *Ensuring 100% enrolment of all eligible citizens, ensuring ease of voting and a pleasant voting experience are key objectives of the ECI. (ECI/PN/195/2025 dated 20th Mar 2025)

 

A reflection: Something happened that caused a change of stance in the intervening weeks 20th Mar 2025 to 25th June 2025. *That is a subject of separate research.

 

The Legal Challenge to SIR -Bihar

A Dot: On 7 July 2025, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the petitions challenging the SIR (by many concerned observers who feared the worst). The matter will be taken up on 10 July 2025. (Supreme Court Observer)  ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An Indian Whisper: Thankfully the SC decided to be proactive in the middle of month-long process.

 

And Finally: The Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission of India (ECI) to include the Aadhaar card as one of the 12 valid documents for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls. *The fundamental right of the Indian Citizens to vote must not be eclipsed by procedural rigidity. *To the ECI’s insistence that Aadhaar was merely proof of residency, not citizenship, the SC pointed out the glaring inconsistency: if nine of the other 11 documents, save for a passport or birth certificate, do not conclusively prove citizenship, why single out Aadhaar for exclusion? *The Court said that Aadhaar could be used subject to verification of its authenticity. * (The Hindu: Editorial Updated - September 10, 2025 01:12 am IST)

 

And: The ECI issued a letter to CEO Bihar -on 9th Sept 2025 – advising him to accept Aadhar as ‘proof of Identity’ during SIR in view of SC order dated 8th Sept 2025, in WP(Civil) 640/2025 ADR Vs ECI.

 

Keep the Pot Boiling: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) of all States and Union Territories on September 10 to take stock of preparedness for rolling out a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. (The Hindu : September 07, 2025 01:53 am IST - New Delhi)

 

A Hoped-for Outcome: So much societal energy and public funds, in hundreds of Crores have been expended to arrive at this juncture. *A faithful implementation of Supreme Court order would ensure that ECI & CEO Bihar will return with a voter list of 8.7 to 9 crore out of the population of 13.1 Crore, i.e. ~67% of the Biharis should it to the Voter lists. *Same as, about 67% of Indians made it to the Voters List after Special Summary Revision 2024 – by the ECI: 96.88 Crores out of 144 Crores est population on that date.   (Refer Post: 09 FEB 2024 4:26PM by PIB Delhi)

 

A Dot: This judgement is a fine and if the outcome is proper, it will be a tribute to Prof Jagdeep S. Chhokar, co-founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), that filed the above case against the ECI: He passed away in Delhi on Friday (Sept 12, 2025). (IIMA archives: He taught there, my alma mater, from 1985 to 2006)

 

Worst Fears come true: The ECI returned, on 30th Sept 2025 with the Final Voter List of Bihar at 7.42 Crores a tad higher than 7.24 Crore on 1st Aug 2025.   *On October 5, the ECI said, “With the successful completion of SIR, the voters' list in Bihar has been purified. It is after a gap of 22 years that such a cleansing has taken place. The exercise will now be conducted across the country.”

 

And: The analysis of “finalised” voter database for 243 assembly constituencies, threw up ~14.35 lakh suspect duplicate voters. *Voters with two different voter IDs but the same names, the same name of a relative, and an age difference of 0-5 years. *About 3.42 lakh duplicates and there were tens of thousands of cases where people across Bihar hold at least three EPIC IDs. *About 1.32 crore voters have also been registered in the final voter list of the 243 constituencies on dubious and non-existent addresses. (Reporter’s Collective – 6th Oct 2025) ------------------------------------------------------------------ An Indian Whisper: As expected there is no perfect solution: Aadhar is the second best 9 on 10, may be.

 

Picture abhi baaki hai, Yaar ! Very hard men are actors in this game.

 

My Hope: Hopefully, the SC will put a stop to this 'boiling the ocean" exercise- and point the ECI in the constitutionally right direction.

 

Resets of Election System

A Manager’s Rumination: No one can deny the existence of ‘Fake Aadhar Cards’ issued in collusion with ‘hacked operators/officials.’ *Nor can the existence of “fake currency’ be denied, in spite of the very dramatic “Demonetization’ efforts back in 2016, which cost 100’s of lives of un-empowered Indians.

 

A Few Dots: CEO of UIDAI Bhuvnesh Kumar “…clarified that one person cannot get two Aadhar or one Aadhaar cannot be assigned to two people, the ID assigned to each applicant remains unique”. *“That is the beauty of this foundational ID. Aadhaar should be used only with authentication or the offline verification.” *Probability of error is very miniscule. (Moneycontrol.com - first published: Sep 8, 2025 01:00 pm)

 

And: All India Electoral Role was placed at 97.8 Crores in 2024 (about 70% of the population): This is almost full enrolment of over 18 years citizens. *UNICEF estimates that (based on 2011 Census) ~450 million, or about one third are in the age group 0-18 years

 

A few Dots: UIDAI records 221 crore Aadhaar authentication transactions in August 2025, 10% increase over August 2024. (UIDAI Website) *That is a daily average of 7.36 Crore authentications: It compares very favorably with, 5.85 authentications needed, even if 65% of 9 Crore Bihari (100% above 18 YO) electors casting their vote

 

And: An elaborate Aadhar Authentication/ Verification system has been developed. Please refer to the Office Memorandum issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, dated 19th June 2023. (F.No. 10(22)/2017- EG-II (Vol I), circulated to 81 ministries and departments).

 

A Management Task: How can this massive investment in creating Unique Identity for 1400 million Indians; ₹20,000 spent so far, and ₹1500 Cr being the annual spend, be leveraged?

 

International Practices

A Few Dots: The type and sequence of registration activities vary considerably:    three broad categories based on the levels of technology applied. *Low-tech: Electronic register compiled by manual data entry of voters’ data from paper forms compiled at the voter registration centres. *Medium-tech: Electronic compilation of voters’ data from shaded paper forms later scanned at centralised locations using either Optical Mark Reader (OMR), Optical Character Recognition (OCR) or Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) technologies *High-tech: Immediate data-entry performed at the voter registration centres through the use of notebook computers, sometimes with the information transmitted in real time to a centralised processing facility: These systems involve the recording of biometric recognition features such as digital photos and digital fingerprints (The Electoral Knowledge Network - Encyclopaedia on the administration and cost of elections -A UN Sponsored Organisation) An Indian Whisper: We have high-tech capabilities in UIDAI, NIC and at ECI and most Ministries. (We even did Livestock registrations digitally).

 

Factory Resets – Election Processes

Factory Resets 1: The ECI must stick to its Constitutional Duty of managing the processes, using the credible instruments provided by the State, at an optimum cost to "We the People".  *The UIDAI, NIC and MeitY have developed credible instruments and robust processes to satisfactorily meet the various legal provisions, to identify a citizen. Reset 1.1: The Paper based Voter Lists and Voter ID cards must be abolished, thereby saving massive costs.  Reset 1.2: Therefore, let any Aadhar Card holder walk up to any convenient polling station (increases ease of voting for the ‘sovereign’ –‘We the People’). *The DoB on the Card verifies her as over 18 YO. S/he moves on to get electronically verified; biometrically or via OTP; and be allowed to vote. *The 'ink' on the finger and Aadhar are 'Fit for the purpose' and 'fit to use. *Once the vote is cast – UIDAI and NIC record it as such and the same Aadhar cannot be used again. Reset 1.3: The ECI must work on improving its processes to facilitate electors (its customers). The Voting opens at 7 AM and continues till 7 PM (12 hrs), with voting data being made available every hour. Reset 1.4: By 8PM (prime time) the Constituency wise results will be ready. More granular data must be released in the next 24 hours. Reset 1.5: Replace the expensive VVPAT apparatus with just a Viewing unit, will collapse the cost of EVM to one third.

 

Factory Resets 2: Once the ECI, UIDAI, NIC and MeitY develop confidence, and process bugs are sorted out we can progress to a higher level.   Reset 2.1: Create Computer Based voting system managed by ECI: Do away with EVM altogether. An elector goes to her Panchayat Office Or any Government Office with Computer Screens anywhere in the country. Reset 2.2: After getting verified by her Aadhar Card as eligible to vote, s/he can choose to vote in her home constituency or the constituency presently residing in. (Say, A Bihari from Darbhanga has been living and working in Kottayam, Kerala, may choose to vote for a candidate in Darbhanga or Kottayam).       Reset 2.3: The electors may be facilitated further by allowing voting to continue for, say 3 days, obviating the necessity of holidays etc. This process will also obviate/minimize the need for special polling station staff etc.

 

A Manager’ Rumination: With the ReOrgs provided in the “Factory Resets of Governance Rules” the People’ Representatives will commence their political career from Panchayat as a Panch; after her term as Panch s/he can contest to be an MLA- Vidhayak. *After a successful term as an MLA, with at least 10 years’ experience in public service and law-making, s/he can contest in the General Election.   *Her constituents will have developed a confidence that they are indeed electing a “People’ Representative” and not a foot soldier of a political party. *That then would contribute substantially to higher voting percentages.

 

Factory Resets 3: Ten years down ECI, UIDAI, NIC and MeitY will have developed technologies and processes to facilitate the electors voting from the comfort of her home and her Laptop/ Handheld devises.*That then will lead to nearly universal voting: the dream of our Constitution Makers.* *The revenue cost of Elections will then tends towards Zero.

 

My Vanaprastha Dharma: A project to send out 3000 copies of “Factory Resets of Governance Rules- Democracy FOR the People, to influencers in many fields of endeavour in India that is Bharat, is underway since Nov 2024.

A Request: If you wish take a deep dive into “Democratic Governance” kindly share your address with PIN and phone number, so that I can request my publishers to send you a copy of “Factory Resets of Governance Rules” – Democracy FOR the People.

 

**Incidentally, Bihar boasts of ~11.5 Crores Aadhar Cards (~89%)

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