![\"90%](\"https:\/\/cms.thewire.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PTI07_24_2025_000053A-1200x600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n‘There are no jobs in Bihar, so we come here out of compulsion…The government should think about this. How will this work if they demand everything in such a hurry?’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opposition legislators stage a protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar during the Monsoon session of the state Assembly, in Patna, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Photo: PTI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new report from the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) details how Bihar\u2019s migrant workers experienced the state\u2019s recent voter roll revision, offering a perspective that differs from the Election Commission\u2019s\u00a0official statements<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report follows the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)<\/a>, a process that flagged 64 lakh electors for potential deletion from the rolls. EC data also categorised 35 lakh voters as \u201cmigrated or untraceable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The SWAN report, \u201cFor a Few Documents More<\/a>,\u201d surveyed 338 migrant workers between July 19 and 21, the group most likely to be affected by these classifications, to detail their awareness of and preparation for the drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Information and awareness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The survey found that little information reached Bihar\u2019s migrant workforce. According to SWAN, 90% of migrant workers currently outside Bihar had not heard of the revision. Of these workers, 75% were unaware of the EC\u2019s online portal for submitting forms, and less than 1% had used it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This left some workers uncertain. \u201cAise kaise ho sakta hai ki ek form nahi bharne se vote nahi de payenge <\/em>(How can it be that just by not filling one form, we won\u2019t be allowed to vote)?<\/em>\u201d one worker asked. Another worker, Sujeet Ram, a 40-year-old from Vaishali now in Tamil Nadu, said, \u201cThere are no jobs in Bihar, so we come here out of compulsion\u2026The government should think about this. How will this work if they demand everything in such a hurry?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Documentation and process<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The report also examines the revision\u2019s document requirements. The survey found that 35% of all workers surveyed had none of the 11 specific documents the EC initially listed as proof of eligibility. It notes, however, that 96% of surveyed workers have an Aadhaar card and 83% have a Voter ID card, documents later \u201csuggested<\/a>\u201d to be considered by the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The survey also shows the drive was conducted inconsistently. Among households an official visited, 29% said the official collected a form with one of the 11 required documents. Another 45% said the official collected the form with just a copy of an Aadhaar or Voter ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The situation prompted some workers to return home. Saleem, a migrant worker in Mumbai, said he traveled back to Bihar because of the drive. \u201cI heard in the news that people\u2019s forms were getting thrown away,\u201d he told surveyors. \u201cMy family and I cannot afford to have our names deleted from the list. That is why I came home to Bihar from Mumbai.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Report\u2019s conclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The SWAN report states that these workers\u2019 experiences provide context for the EC\u2019s data, suggesting many of the \u201cuntraceable\u201d voters are simply citizens working in other states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report also includes testimonies from workers concerned about the process. One Muslim worker said, \u201cWe have to keep proving our identity. It\u2019s like refreshing a phone\u2026 Our rights should not be snatched from us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Bihar begins a 30-day period for claims and objections over the 64 lakh flagged voters, the SWAN report concludes that the revision drive inverts the presumption of citizenship. It calls the findings a \u201csignal of the potential threat of disenfranchising millions of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n