37% pre-SIR Form 6 rejected in Telangana due to declaration rule

Why in the News

New-voter applications filed in Telangana before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) began have been rejected for lacking a declaration form that only the SIR required. Of the Form 6 applications received in that period, 1,92,574, or 37%, have been rejected.

What is Form 6, and what did the SIR add?

1. What it is: Form 6 is the application a new voter files to get their name onto the electoral roll. It works like an admission form for the voters’ list.
2. The SIR declaration: The SIR added a declaration form as an attachment to Form 6. It asked for the applicant’s own entry, or a parent’s or relative’s, in the roll of the 2002 SIR.
3. Citizenship proof: An applicant without such details had to submit one of 12 listed documents as proof of citizenship.
4. The takeaway: The declaration turned a routine enrolment request into a citizenship check.

What happened to Telangana’s pre-SIR applications?

1. Applications received: Telangana received 5,20,331 applications for new enrolment between January and mid-June, before the SIR process began.
2. No declaration attached: None of these applications carried the declaration form.
3. Accepted: Only 3,22,785 were accepted as new enrolments by 28 October. The rest were rejected because they lacked the declaration.

Why is the rejection contested?

1. Rule applied backwards: The declaration form was meant only for the SIR process, but it was used to reject applications filed before the SIR started.
2. Shifting requirements: The Election Commission of India (ECI) changed its requirements during the ongoing SIR, so lakhs of new-voter applications in the State were rejected.

Challenges

1. Documentation hurdles: Requiring old roll details or citizenship documents excludes applicants without formal records.
2. Exclusion of new voters: Form 6 is how citizens who turn 18 join the roll, so mass rejection shuts first-time voters out.
3. Fear of a citizenship test: Residents asked for citizenship proof fear a “stealth National Register of Citizens (NRC)“, a register meant to identify citizens, and avoid the process.
4. Delayed redressal: Rejected applicants have limited time to appeal before the roll is frozen for polls.

Way Forward

1. Review rejected forms: The Telangana Chief Electoral Officer should re-examine pre-SIR applications under the rules in force when they were filed.
2. Seek the missing declaration: Electoral Registration Officers should ask applicants to supply the declaration instead of rejecting the form outright.
3. Flexible documentation: The ECI should accept a wider range of residency proofs, such as electricity bills or community certificates.
4. Standing appeal tribunals: Set up year-round appellate tribunals for roll disputes in place of last-minute temporary arrangements.

Conclusion

Telangana’s rejections show a citizenship-linked SIR condition reaching back to applications made under the earlier, simpler process. Whether the ECI lets these applicants complete the declaration, or makes them start again, will decide how many new voters join the roll.

Back2Basics: Special Intensive Revision (SIR)

1. What it is: A time-bound, house-to-house enumeration in which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visit households to verify every entry on the electoral roll.
2. Different from summary revision: The routine annual summary revision updates the roll without physically verifying every voter entry.
3. Legal basis: Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 lets the ECI order a special revision at any time, for reasons recorded in writing.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026, GS2, 10 marks] Is the right to vote a fundamental right? Discuss the position of the Election Commission of India while undertaking the revision of electoral rolls. Can it also examine the question of citizenship of voters?”